Comparative study on quality assurance for mandatory energy audits in Romania and Germany

The commitment to an activity always requires the assurance of the quality of the result. Article 8 of the Energy Efficiency Directive 2012/27/UE of the European Parliament (EED) requires large companies in all member states to carry out an energy audit at least every four years. An energy audit follows the standard EN-16247-1, but this standard does not take into account a possible reluctance of the company carrying out the audit and thus compliance with a minimum qualitative standard. The various national implementations therefore define further rules for carrying out these audits. In Romania, Article 8 of the EED was implemented in the National Energy Efficiency Action Plan (NEEAP). The coordinating authority for the energy audits is the Autoritatea Nationala de Reglementare în domeniul Energiei (ANRE). In Germany, the Erneuerbare Energien Gesetz (EEG) was created for this purpose, with the Bundesamtes für Wirtschaft und Ausfuhrkontrolle (BAFA) being responsible for coordination. This study compares the differences in the respective regulations. In a comparative review, we analyze the national rules that companies in Romania and Germany have to follow when carrying out audits. Factors such as minimum sizes, balance sheet limits, calculation of measures, qualification of the auditor and also sanctions in the event of violation of the audit obligation are compared. This is intended to enable conclusions to be drawn as to whether there are differences in the requirements and minimum quality of energy audits in different countries and what influence the mandatory audit has on companies.