Francisco Ramalheira, Director, Business Development and Marketing, Enova

Dubai, UAE, 26 February 2019: The market size for retrofit equipment is increasing, especially with regard to Energy Performance Contracting (EPC), asserted Francisco Ramalheira, Director, Business Development and Marketing, Enova. As an energy services company (ESCO), he added, the retrofit equipment market can be understood from different angles, one of which is the replacement of equipment as it completes its lifecycle. While referring to retrofitting as capital expenditure, he said, building owners take on retrofits with the intention of maintaining and increasing the attractiveness and usefulness of the building portfolio. He said: “In the Facilities Management (FM) industry, we come across this scenario on a daily basis. On the other hand, you also have retrofits associated with energy-performance contracts, where the intention is to improve the overall performance in terms of utility consumption by upgrading equipment that is yet to reach the end of its lifecycle.”

Elaborating on whether the understanding of performance contracting is getting better and if there is a fair amount of translation into project value in the GCC region, Ramalheira said: “In the United Arab Emirates, for instance, you have Etihad ESCO and the RAK Municipality, which conduct a number of programmes to foster EPC and retrofit contracts. What we know to date, is that contracts are well-understood and are generating tangible business opportunities. Presently, Enova is guaranteeing approximately USD 8 million on annual savings on our client portfolio through EPC. In other countries, you see pilot projects taking shape. In addition, in Bahrain, for instance, the Natural Gas Authority is pushing for the first power projects to be completed this year and from past experience in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, now it’s only a matter of time.”