Philips Lighting has selected SUSI Partners' SUSI Energy Efficiency Fund (SEEF) as financing partner to implement Light as a Service (LaaS) projects to help European lighting customers upgrade their lighting to more energy-efficient systems and reduce carbon emissions.

(Image: Philips Lighting)

The SEEF-financed LaaS projects are expected to achieve aggregated carbon emission savings of up to 90,000 tonnes of CO2 due to the upgrade to energy-efficient LEDs. LaaS includes the design, building, operation and maintenance of new lighting installations, with no upfront investments for the customer and costs of the lighting being spread over a predetermined period of time. The customer immediately realizes savings on energy costs and repays the project from these savings. It also guarantees the outcome on light levels, energy and uptime.

Under the agreement, Philips Lighting can embed financing from SEEF into its customer proposition, on a flexible and repeatable basis. This innovative facility allows Philips Lighting to further expand its project pipeline and supports its LaaS business model throughout Europe. The initial agreement covers projects in Belgium, Germany, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and Spain, with other countries soon to follow.

"We believe that our collaboration with SUSI will have a significant impact on the sustainability profile of our customers in Europe," said Stéphane Rougeot, CFO at Philips Lighting. "Light as a Service projects have an important contribution to the objectives set out in our Brighter Lives, Better World sustainability program and contribute to the rapid growth of our systems and services business."

Philips Lighting aims to generate 80% of its total revenue from sustainable products, systems and services by 2020. In 2017, the company achieved 77.3% sustainable revenues.

"We are proud to have a pan-European cooperation agreed with such a renowned and knowledgeable partner as Philips Lighting, underlining SEEF's strong value proposition for international energy service companies," said Alexander Hunzinger, Managing Director at SUSI Partners AG.

A first portfolio of projects has already been implemented through the facility, which is expected to be fully deployed by the end of 2018.