Deadline: 30-Jun-23
The European City Facility (EUCF) is seeking applications to support municipalities and local authorities in developing Investment Concepts related to the implementation of actions identified in their climate and energy action plans.
The ultimate objective of the EUCF is to build a substantial pipeline of sustainable energy investment projects across municipalities in Europe.
Objectives
- The overarching objective of the EUCF is to provide financial and technical support to municipalities/local authorities, their groupings and local public entities aggregating municipalities/local authorities in order to accelerate the implementation of their ambitious sustainable energy and climate plans. Building on the success and the lessons learned in the first four calls for applications, the EUCF aims for an appropriate follow-up and upscale of its support, by continuing to be relevant to municipalities, local authorities and local public entities in structuring and increasing the maturity of their investment projects and supporting the European goals of increasing investments in sustainable energy. The specific objectives of the EUCF include:
- To design, plan and manage three calls for applications for the selection of more than 200 municipalities/local authorities, their groupings or local public entities aggregating municipalities/local authorities, which will be provided with financial support and services, triggering more than 125 million EUR of investment in sustainable energy, with focus on energy efficiency.
- To offer services at national/regional level to support cities and municipalities by setting and managing a network of Country Experts and national hubs and raising capacity of internal municipal staff with the organisation of capacity building sessions.
- To mobilise a network of private and public investors in all EU Member States to facilitate the market uptake of the investment concepts developed within the EUCF.
- To promote and disseminate LIFE EUCF results in more than 10 000 municipalities and local authorities fostering replication and exploitation by developing standardised products and processes.
Funding Information
- The EUCF finances the development of an Investment Concept with a fixed grant of 60 000 EUR for each beneficiary.
What can be financed?
- The EUCF finances activities, such as (technical) feasibility studies, market analyses, stakeholder analyses, legal, economic and financial analyses, risk analyses, etc., that are required to develop the investment concept. These activities can be delivered by in-house staff or subcontracted external experts.
- The grant cannot directly finance the actual investments, but it covers costs to mobilise resources and access services to develop an investment concept.
Eligibility Criteria
- The EUCF is open to all municipalities/local authorities, their groupings, and local public entities aggregating municipalities/local authorities from the 27 EU Member States, Iceland and Ukraine. Applicants are required to have a climate and/or energy plan. This includes SECAPs (Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plans), developed within the Covenant of Mayors initiative, or other climate and/or energy plans with mitigation targets.
- Moreover, applicants have to demonstrate political commitment to the development of the Investment Concept through a letter of support, signed by the Mayor or other relevant political representative. The applicant must commit to the EUCF monitoring period of two years.
For more information, visit EUCF.