The role of public sector entities in improving energy efficiency – characteristics of energy performance contracts

Improving energy efficiency is one of the EU’s key actions to mitigate climate change. The public sector is expected to play a key role in the fight against climate change. Therefore, it is useful to describe the role of public sector entities in improving energy efficiency and the legal tools they can use for this purpose. One such tool is the energy performance contract. In this article, the characteristics of normative and non-normative acts adopted at EU and national levels in the field of energy efficiency have been identified. It also analyses the provisions on energy performance contracts in order to show what such a contract is and how its essential elements should be designed. The identification of the fundamental problems arising from the current provisions on the conclusion of energy performance contracts will contribute to the possibility of redesigning these provisions or creating new legal frameworks in a way that better responds to the needs of market participants.