Funding Call: Positive Clean Energy Districts

Deadline: 26-Apr-22

The European Commission (EC) is pleased to launch a funding call for the Positive Clean Energy Districts.

The topic addresses the objectives of the Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities Mission, hereafter referred to as the Cities Mission, to (1) support, promote and showcase 100 climate-neutral and smart European cities by 2030 and (2) make these cities act into experimentation and innovation hubs to put all European cities in a position to become climate-neutral by 2050. The topic will thus contribute to the twin green and digital transitions promoted by the European Green Deal and will lead by example on how to speed up the necessary transformation towards urban climate neutrality, including in a human-centred way.

Since Positive Clean Energy Districts are a crucial element of the climate-neutral cities of the future, the concept of scale and of representativeness of the various socio-economic contexts/groups of citizens are of highest importance for effective and impactful urban transformation, taking into account cross-sectoral impacts, interdependencies and co-benefits. The expertise acquired at district scale – by facilitating and analysing the intricate interactions between all involved layers and actors – is essential for subsequent scale-up to city scale. This is again paramount if they want to meet the 2050 climate and zero pollution goals where cities play a pivotal role. The scope of the projects will therefore be to:

• Test large-scale Positive Clean Energy Districts under real life conditions and analyse:
  • The main aspects of successful conception and roll-out of Positive Energy Districts;
  • Combinations of demand measures (e.g. energy efficiency, demand response and user behaviour) and supply measures (e.g. onsite RES and storage, including from EVs, building/district management) at district scale to identify the best cost-effective mix;
  • Synergies between the built environment, energy communities, active and e-mobility (e.g. integration of smart and/or bidirectional EV charging), smart grids (e.g. heating/cooling, electricity) and energy storage. Inclusion of resource efficient smart water and waste management is also an asset;
  • Key elements of replicability for scaling up Positive Clean Energy Districts (in the same city/region and also beyond), for example the use of open standards and technical specifications and open source tools is encouraged.
• Demonstrate different combinations of technologies to achieve Positive Clean Energy Districts and analyse the most cost-efficient combinations.
• Develop business models and governance structures that are best suited for Positive Clean Energy Districts (e.g. studying the most effective incentive schemes for behavioural change, development and integration of sustainable energy communities).
• Test and adapt different management systems/platforms and citizen interaction and related co-creation and communication strategies that facilitate the implementation of Positive Clean Energy Districts.
• Optimise on-site energy storage systems (e.g. thermal, electrical) linked with local non-combustion RES production (including excess energy from local/ regional industry), use of low carbon materials, and e-mobility (both passenger mobility and freight transport).
• Integrate low to zero pollution heating and cooling systems (e.g. solar thermal district heating plants) making best use of local assets.
• Test Positive Clean Energy District grid solutions, demand response and other smart energy management strategies that help to optimise the larger energy system. To address the cybersecurity aspect, the task will be implemented in close collaboration with the projects funded under the Horizon Europe topic C5-D3-ESGS-06-2021 addressing the reliability and resilience of the grid.
• Establish a project structure that actively involves the local city administrations and mayors of other cities in co-creation, inter-city peer review process and formal collaborations based on officially adopted shared principles.
• Involve owners/inhabitants but also financial actors as consortium partners already in the development phase, with the perspective to scale up from project to real city transformation.
• Apart from implementing their own innovative approaches, projects are strongly encouraged to build and capitalise on the wealth of proven solutions of Horizon 2020 Smart Cities and Communities Lighthouse Projects cluster [6] and advancing the chosen solutions towards the necessary mainstreaming on the mid/long term.

Funding Information

The check will normally be done for the coordinator if the requested grant amount is equal to or greater than EUR 500 000, except for:

• public bodies (entities established as a public body under national law, including local, regional or national authorities) or international organisations; and 
• cases where the individual requested grant amount is not more than EUR 60 000 (lowvalue grant)

Expected Outcomes

Projects are expected to contribute to all the following outcomes:

• Contribute to the objectives of the Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities Mission by accelerating the transition towards climate neutrality in cities;
• Large-scale demonstration and implementation of Positive Clean Energy Districts to prove their feasibility and cost-effectiveness in a real world environment, i.e. they will be fully integrated in the city context at all levels;
• Projects will be at district (project defined) scale and will have long-term strategies that address the (at times conflicting) needs and requirements of inhabitants, energy, mobility (both passenger mobility and freight transport), ICT and environment at district scale in order to make cities more liveable, healthier, resource efficient and climate-neutral. Projects will include different social and economic areas at the district level;
• Collaborative structures that bring together all important actors needed to realize Positive Clean Energy Districts, i.e. cities/metropolitan areas, industry/SMEs, property developers/financial actors, R&I organisations, energy service providers, citizens associations, energy agencies, etc. They will closely collaborate among each other and with the Horizon 2020 Smart Cities and Communities Lighthouse projects cluster, the supporting SCALE service contract and the Smart Cities Marketplace;
• Widening and consolidating the Positive Clean Energy cluster of practitioners and strengthened links with financial actors enabling the mid-term Europe-wide uptake of tested solutions for Positive Clean Energy Districts;
• Paradigm shift from demonstration project to mainstreamed long-term city transformation;
• Evidence of decreased investment risk for – and acceleration of – the rollout of Positive Clean Energy Districts;
• Well-proven and documented packaged solutions that lower the entry barrier, create trust and shape the market, ultimately leading to further large-scale investment;
• City alliances that include also small and very small cities as well as cities in less developed and peripheral regions – to enhance opportunities for accessing knowledge, technology and funding, and in turn provide a factual contribution toward meeting the climate targets.

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible for funding, applicants must be established in one of the eligible countries, i.e.:

• the Member States of the European Union, including their outermost regions;
• the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) linked to the Member States;
• eligible non-EU countries:
  • countries associated to Horizon Europe
  • low- and middle-income countries.

For more information, visit European Commission.

For more information, visit https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/opportunities/topic-details/horizon-miss-2021-cit-02-04;callCode=null;freeTextSearchKeyword=;matchWholeText=true;typeCodes=1,2;statusCodes=31094502;programmePeriod=null;programCcm2Id=null;programDivisionCode=null;focusAreaCode=null;destination=null;mission=null;geographicalZonesCode=null;programmeDivisionProspect=null;startDateLte=null;startDateGte=null;crossCuttingPriorityCode=null;cpvCode=null;performanceOfDelivery=null;sortQuery=startDate;orderBy=desc;onlyTenders=false;topicListKey=topicSearchTablePageState