STIFTUNG BASE (BASEL AGENCY FOR SUSTAINABLE ENERGY)

Their core work

BASE is a Basel-based foundation that designs and promotes innovative financial mechanisms to unlock investment in energy efficiency. Their core work centers on Energy Savings Insurance (ESI) — a model where energy savings are guaranteed and insured, removing the financial risk that stops businesses from upgrading equipment. They also develop "energy efficiency as a service" models, particularly targeting SMEs that lack capital for upfront efficiency investments. In practice, they act as a bridge between the finance sector and the energy efficiency market, creating bankable instruments that make efficiency upgrades commercially viable.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

BASE entered H2020 in 2018 with a clear focus on Energy Savings Insurance — a financial product that guarantees and insures energy savings to reduce investment risk (ESI Europe). By 2020-2021, they expanded into servitisation models, pay-per-use financing, and equipment-as-a-service for SMEs, while simultaneously scaling their original ESI concept to version 2.0. The trajectory shows a consistent deepening of energy efficiency finance expertise, broadening from one flagship instrument (insurance) to a wider toolkit of business models.

BASE is moving from single-instrument insurance models toward a full suite of servitisation and pay-per-use financing for energy efficiency, with increasing focus on SME markets.

How they like to work

BASE exclusively coordinates — all three H2020 projects were led by them, with zero participant-only roles. Their consortia are compact (9 unique partners across 3 projects, averaging about 3-4 partners each), which is typical for Coordination and Support Actions. This is an organization that initiates and drives projects rather than joining others, making them a strong lead partner but one that prefers focused, manageable teams over large multi-country consortia.

BASE has worked with 9 unique partners across 8 countries, indicating a broad but not deep European network. Their partnerships are spread across multiple countries rather than concentrated in a single region, consistent with their mission to scale financial instruments across different European markets.

What sets them apart

BASE occupies a rare niche at the intersection of energy policy, financial product design, and business model innovation — specifically for energy efficiency. While many organizations work on energy technology, very few specialize in making efficiency investments financially bankable and insurable. For consortium builders, BASE brings the "how do we pay for it" expertise that most technical projects lack, making them an ideal partner for any project that needs a credible market uptake or financing strategy.

Highlights from their portfolio

• ESI Europe
  Flagship project with the largest budget (EUR 1.38M) that established the Energy Savings Insurance concept at European scale.
• ESI Europe 2.0
  A direct sequel — securing funding for a 2.0 version signals strong EU confidence in the ESI model and BASE's ability to deliver.
• eEaaS
  Represents BASE's strategic expansion into servitisation and equipment-as-a-service, opening a new financing pathway for SMEs.