Mobilising investment in energy efficiency and renewable energies is key for Europe's energy transition. The European Commission is seeking to establish two distinct facilities which would be able, through rapid lump sum funding and other forms of assistance, to support cities, communities and islands to prepare investments in sustainable energy.
European Islands Facility
European islands need to reduce their dependency on energy imports by making better use of their own renewable energy sources and embracing more modern, socially inclusive and innovative energy systems. Europe's more than 2200 inhabited islands can deliver a pipeline of energy investment projects across Europe, yet despite tremendous potential, too few islands in Europe succeed in developing and scaling up investment packages. A key gap is the lack of capacity for islands to transform their overall long-term ambitions into credible investment concepts. The aim of the European Islands Facility is to facilitate an increased leveraging of finance into energy transition investments by public authorites and to increase the capacity of public authorities to develop investible projects.
European City Facility
Cities and communities are leaders in economic, social and environmental transformation. Through adoption of ambitious sustainable energy and climate action plans they have committed to, and often go beyond, national and European sustainable energy and climate targets. Yet still too few of them succeed in developing and scaling up mature investment packages. A key gap is the lack of capacity of public authorities to transform their long-term strategies and ambitions into credible investment concepts. The aim of the European City Facility is to get a large number of cities and communities to kick-start the process for mobilising investments in sustainable energy through realisation of investment concepts.
In this light, energy agencies might be interested in the following calls for proposals under the Secure, Clean and Efficient Energy work programme of Horizon 2020:
- European Island facility, Unlock financing for energy transitions and supporting islands to develop investment concepts link
- European City facility, European Cities as key innovation hubs to unlock finance for energy efficiency link
For more information, join the session on 2 July 2018 in Brussels or via web-streaming. This event is organised by the Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized enterprises (EASME) in collaboration with DG Energy.
