The European Commission TA Facility linked to EEEF is successfully helping public authorities to transform to resilient, cleaner and sustainable places
The European Commission Technical Assistance Facility (EC Technical Assistance) linked to the European Energy Efficiency Fund (eeef) proved to be an important facilitation tool for public authorities to receive the capacity needed - whether internally or externally - for elaborating on their initial ideas for sustainable investment programmes. Between December 2011 and March 2016, the EC Technical Assistance Facility supported the project development activities of 16 public beneficiaries in eight Member States of the European Union, including Belgium, Ireland, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Spain, the United Kingdom and Portugal.
By the end of 2017, the EC Technical Assistance successfully facilitated 10 projects leading to a total investment volume of €194.4 m, which are at various stages of implementation. Four Technical Assistance projects (€53.9 m) have already achieved financial close with the eeef, including Région Rhône-Alpes (a building retrofit project in France), the City of Venlo (a street lighting project in the Netherlands), the Ore Valley Housing Association (a project related to energy conservation measures in the United Kingdom) and the City of Santander (a public lighting project based in Spain); while three further Technical Assistance projects (€94.2 m), including the Groupement de Redéploiement Economique Liège (a building retrofit project based in Belgium), the University of Liège (another building retrofit based in Belgium) and partly the City of Córdoba (a public lighting and building retrofit project in Spain), are under completion with the Technical Assistance beneficiaries’ own funding and/or other regional sources. Further projects, including two Spanish cities and a Portuguese region, aim to reach completion soon, with eeef financing under discussion. For further information please refer to the attached executive summary of the European Commission Final Report prepared by the Investment Manager.
These green investment programmes are expected to deliver around 26,701 tonnes of CO2e savings and estimated primary energy savings of 146,942 MWh per annum helping the public authorities to transform to resilient, cleaner and sustainable places.
The EC Technical Assistance Facility was a well-perceived project development opportunity in the European sustainable energy market and helped projects to finance energy audits, feasibility studies and the preparation of implementation plans, including procurement procedures. It closed its operations by the end of 2017. Going forward, public authorities will receive Technical Assistance support from the eeef’s newly created Technical Assistance Facility. For further information on the eeef Technical Assistance Facility, please visit: https://www.eeef.eu/eeef-ta-facility.html
Megan Richards, chair of the eeef Supervisory Board and director of the European Commission stated that ‘the EC Technical Assistance facility helped local and regional governments to undertake energy efficiency improvements that, in turn, can be examples to others and demonstrate how to develop projects, build appropriate financial models and develop local skills to invest in efficient energy – the cheapest energy of all.’
According to Lada Strelnikova, Lead Investment Manager of the eeef, ‘We, at eeef, have closely accompanied our Technical Assistance beneficiaries along a holistic project value chain providing appropriate technical expertise and financing to help them realise their sustainable investment plans. Considering the increasing urbanisation of cities, sectors such as energy and lighting have the largest impact on the climate change debate. Cities need assistance to lead the energy transition as the front-runners. We are delighted to see the fruitful outcome of a great partnership with our public authorities.’
The European Commission is the EU's politically independent executive arm. It promotes the general interest of the EU by proposing and enforcing legislation as well as by implementing policies and the EU budget.
The European Energy Efficiency Fund (eeef) S.A., SICAV-SIF is a “societé d’investissement à capital veriable” governed by Luxembourg law and was initiated by the European Commission in cooperation with the European Investment Bank. The initial capitalization provided by the European Commission was increased with contributions from the European Investment Bank, Cassa Depositi e Prestiti as well as the Investment Manager Deutsche Bank.
Source: European Energy Efficiency Fund SA, SICAV-SIF