An “energy performance” insurance, which guarantees the return on investment of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in energy efficiency projects and photovoltaic generation facilities, minimising the risk of small entrepreneurs to adopt these initiatives.
This is the proposal of the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), which on Wednesday launched the ESI Program (Energy Savings Insurance), aimed at boosting these segments.
The insured party is the supplier of the energy solutions and the beneficiary is the SME that hires the energy efficiency or generation services. The insurance contracting is made with insurance companies associated to the program.
Currently, there is only one company in Brazil, Invest, and the IADB, which intends to induce this market, expects other insurers to begin offering the product.
The expectation is also that the insurance may be offered in partnership with private banks that, with the guarantee offered by the model, will have more security to offer credit for investments in energy efficiency.