Pursuing for sustainable energy investments? — The European City Facility application opens 25th of May!
In line with the Paris Agreement and the 2030 goals for climate and energy set by the European Commission, there is a great need for cities, municipalities and local authorities to invest in sustainable energy and climate solutions. However, many public stakeholders struggle with limited human resources and capacity and overcoming financial barriers. Also, a lack of experience in developing sound investment packages can be a significant barrier especially for smaller and medium sized municipalities. Nevertheless, public stakeholders have huge potential for uniting synergies and working towards a more energy and climate friendly future in Europe.
The European City Facility (EUCF) is an initiative to support local investments in sustainable energy. The objective of the EUCF is to is to facilitate access to private and EU financing along with access to technical, legal and financial expertise. In the long run the aim is to deliver at least 200 investment concepts in cities and municipalities all over Europe.
An investment concept within the EUCF initiative can be
- Identification of potential project pipeline
- Analysis of local stakeholders controlling the pipeline
- Legal Analysis (regional, national, international)
- (Pre-feasibility) analysis of available financing solutions
- Roadmap: basic process to launch investments
Successful applicants will receive a grant of 60 000 euros that is to be used for developing an energy investment program. However, the grant is not meant for directly financing investments but rather to access services and develop an investment concept.
How and when can UBC cities apply?
Eligible for applying for a grant are the cities, municipalities and local authorities that can answer YES to the following questions:
- Are you a municipality/local authority or grouping of municipalities/local authorities?
- Is your municipality/local authority or grouping located entirely in the EU-27 Member States and the UK?
- Will you be able to provide a proof of political commitment to develop the investment concept by your mayor or other political representative?
- Does your municipality/local authority have a politically approved SEAP, SECAP or plan of similar ambition?
- Do you commit to the EUCF monitoring period of two years?
From 2020 to 2022 there will be in total four calls for application. The first call is extended due to the circumstances caused by Covid-19. The following calls will be open for two months.
Call 1: 25th of May – 2nd of October 2020
Call 2: Spring 2021
Call 3: Autumn 2021
Call 4: Spring 2022
Get in touch with your country's EUCF country expert for technical support with the application process in your national language.
DE ce.germany@eucityfacility.eu
DK ce.denmark@eucityfacility.eu
EE ce.estonia@eucityfacility.eu
FI ce.finland@eucityfacility.eu
LT ce.lithuania@eucityfacility.eu
LV ce.latvia@eucityfacility.eu
PL ce.poland@eucityfacility.eu
SE ce.sweden@eucityfacility.eu
More information is available on the EUCF website.