EU financing sources 16
16.1 Financial schemes
16.1.3 Project Development Assistance and Funding Advice
Agreement. This Work Programme is structured around two calls: 'Building a low-carbon, climate resilient future: climate action in support of the Paris Agreement' and 'Greening the economy in line with the SDGs'. The focus area 'Building a low-carbon, climate resilient future' will align R&I investments towards the Climate Change targets of the Paris Agreement. Work related to the circular economy and the focus area on 'Connecting economic and environmental gains – the Circular Economy' will also align R&I towards these targets. The Societal Challenge 4 Work Programme for 2018-2020 focuses on Smart, Green and Integrated Transport. These calls have the overall objective of achieving a European transport system that is resilient, resource efficient, climate- and environmentally-friendly, safe and seamless for the benefit of all citizens, the economy and society (213).
investments into renovating, extending or building new district heating/cooling networks, including networks based on combined heat and power (CHP), decentralised CHP systems
local infrastructure including smart grids, information and communication technology
infrastructure for energy efficiency, energy-efficient urban equipment and link with transport
Urban transport and mobility
investments to support the use and integration of innovative solutions for alternative fuels in urban mobility
investments to introduce on a large-scale new, more energy-efficient transport and mobility measures in cities including passenger transport, freight transport.
16.1.3.2 ELENA KfW
ELENA KfW is a financial scheme that supports local and regional authorities and other entities acting on their behalf. The focus areas are energy efficiency in public and private buildings and street lighting, integrated renewable energy sources (RES), energy efficiency, urban transport including freight logistics in cities, local infrastructures for energy efficiency and municipal waste-to-energy projects. KfW-ELENA consists of two elements, ELENA grant from the European Commission for Project Development Services and global loans to local participating financial intermediaries (PFIs) in order to target smaller investments (volume up to EUR 50 million).
16.1.3.3 Horizon 2020 (Call EE22 – PDA)
Horizon2020 Project Development Assistance (PDA) is a technical assistance facility to support building technical, economic and legal expertise needed for project development and leading to the launch of concrete investments. The beneficiaries of the program are local and regional authorities, public bodies, private infrastructure operators, ESCOs and SMEs. The program focuses on areas regarding public and private building stocks, public lighting, district heating and cooling networks, urban transport, energy efficiency in industries and services and investments in RES by hiring of experts / preparation of bankable projects. It supports programs above 7.5 to 50 million euros maximum.
Moreover, other funding opportunities can be found in the Horizon2020 Smart Cities &
Communities call (214).
16.1.3.4 European energy efficiency fund (EEEF)
The European Energy Efficiency Fund has set up a new assistance scheme to support ambitious public beneficiaries in developing bankable sustainable energy investment programmes. These projects shall relate to the energy efficiency sector, small-scale renewable energy and/or urban public transport. The EEEF – Technical Assistance Facility (eeef - TA) supports projects in the sector of energy efficiency and partly small-scale renewable energy. EEEF-TA aims to bridge the gap between sustainable energy plans and real investments by supporting all activities necessary to prepare investments into sustainable energy projects. Eligible applicants: regions, city councils, universities, public hospitals and other public entities located in the Member States of the European Union.
EEEF is supporting beneficiaries by allocating consultant services to the planned investment programmes (for example for feasibility studies, energy audits and evaluating the economic viability of investments). It also covers direct staff costs of the beneficiaries and external legal service costs required. Should the investment programme not be
(214) https://ec.europa.eu/inea/en/horizon-2020/smart-cities-communities
funded under EEEF, the reimbursement of services previously paid by EEEF is required (187).
16.1.3.5 Joint Assistance to Support Projects in European Regions (JASPERS)
JASPERS assistance advices cities and regions on strategic planning in a wide range of sectors. JASPERS belongs to Special Support instruments and is a technical assistance partnership between the EIB and the European Commission and at the same time an important instrument of the EU Cohesion Policy. JASPERS provides independent expert advice and capacity building support to public authorities and final beneficiaries on how to plan, develop and implement high quality large investment projects to be co-financed by European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF), as well as programmes and sector strategies that deliver EU policy objectives. It supports projects in many sectors such as roads, air, maritime, public transport, water, solid waste, smart development and energy. JASPERS focuses on large projects with total costs exceeding EUR 50 million for environmental projects and EUR 75 million for transport or other sectors. However, there is flexibility about these thresholds in the case of small countries or where projects serve as pilot actions to establish best practice. JASPERS supports projects in the following 5 areas:
Energy and solid waste
Rail, Air and Maritime
Smart development
Roads
Water and wastewater.
It can provide support to Signatories, Coordinators, Supporters for Hiring of experts and preparation of bankable projects.
16.1.3.6 URBIS
URBIS is a new dedicated urban investment advisory platform within the European Investment Advisory Hub (EIAH). URBIS is set up to provide advisory support to urban authorities to facilitate, accelerate and unlock urban investment projects, programmes and platforms. URBIS has been developed in partnership by the European Commission (DG REGIO) and the EIB in the context of the EU One Stop Shop for Cities and in support of the ambitions defined in the EU Urban Agenda. In its initial phase, URBIS will consist of three modules, implemented in parallel:
Increased awareness raising of existing instruments, programmes, services;
Tailor-made technical and financial advice to cities, and
Exploring innovative financing approaches for city investments.
It will thus simplify access to existing advisory programmes and services and also address some of the current gaps in the provision of advisory support. Local authorities wishing to access the service should first submit a request form, describing the proposed assignment, the project, programme or investment platform that it will support and sets out how the assignment will meet the eligibility criteria (215).
(215) http://eiah.eib.org/about/initiative-urbis.htm