eeef News

2017-07-11

Province of Ferrara is the second public authority joining eeef to collaborate on the new eeef Technical Assistance Facility

2017-06-01

Celsius and eeef collaborate to facilitate district heating and cooling networks for European Cities

2017-05-31

First time award to a Belgian energy retrofit project won by RenoWatt - project facilitated by eeef’s European Commission TA Facility

Liège (Belgium) – RenoWatt, carrying out energy retrofit of public buildings in the Liège province, wins the ‘Best Energy Project 2017’ award. It was attributed by the European Commission and the Berliner Energie Agentur in Berlin (Germany), for targeting climate change and the specific needs of participating public authorities.

RenoWatt is an initiative of the Groupement de Redéploiement Economique Liège (GRE-Liège) launched in November 2014. GRE-Liège, representing initially ten public authorities located in the province of Liege (before they were joined by new municipalities), received Technical Assistance (TA) funds from eeef’s European Commission TA Facility to enhance energy efficiency by pooling smaller projects, thereby removing technical, administrative and financial barriers that hinder public institutions to implement green investment programmes. This TA project aimed at developing the launch of both light and deep retrofit projects through EPC models for public buildings, such as schools, administrative buildings and historic sites, as well as the upgrade of street lighting systems belonging to the different public authorities. RenoWatt, a one-stop-shop, provided technical, legal and financial expertise fulfilling the individual needs of the participating public authorities, while seeking innovative funding solutions and promoting local businesses and employment in the area.

Starting with an initial investment volume of approx. EUR43m, the ambitious project was scaled up over time and awarded four EPCs amounting to EUR51.9m as well as a one further EPC for the Huy Regional Hospital (CHRH) amounting to EUR8m (total of EUR60m including maintenance). In total 64 sites representing 134 buildings have been renovated for the Liège Province, the cities of Liège, Seraing, Herstal, Verviers and the municipalities of Oupeye, Bassenge and Trois-Ponts. The project was financed via local sources receiving a loan from Belfius (Belgian Smart City Fund).

The eeef team is congratulating GRE-Liège for the excellent achievement in providing a tailored response to climate change issues in the province of Liège. Zarpana Signor, Technical Assistance Manager of the eeef, added: “The GRE-Liège team in cooperation with the participating public authorities achieved the implementation of a lighthouse building refurbishment project in an ambitious timeframe attracting now further municipalities to join energy transition efforts. In addition to the Jewish Museum Berlin project (Germany) and the University Hospital S. Orsola Malpighi project (Italy), RenoWatt is the third eeef project honoured with an award which we are very proud of.”

The European Energy Efficiency Fund (eeef) S.A., SICAV-SIF is a “société d’investissement à capital variable” governed by Luxembourg law and initiated by the European Commission in cooperation with the European Investment Bank. eeef increased the initial capitalisation provided by the European Commission with contributions from the sponsors European Investment Bank, Cassa Depositi e Prestiti as well as the investment manager Deutsche Bank. eeef is an innovative public-private partnership dedicated to mitigate climate change through energy efficiency measures and the use of renewable energy in the member states of the European Union.

2017-05-16

Gijón is the first city joining eeef to collaborate on the new eeef Technical Assistance Facility

Ayuntamiento de Gijón is the first public authority that will participate in the new Technical Assistance Facility of the Fund, which has also received funding from the ELENA Facility under Horizon 2020 Programme of the European Union. The objective of the new facility is to support public entities to prepare investment programmes for a sustainable transformation in the areas of energy efficiency (mainly public building renovation and street lighting upgrades) as well as small scale renewable energy. eeef has selected a pool of consultants to work closely with the public authorities during the preparation of energy audits and public tender process. With the full commitment of its Mayoress, City of Gijon has embarked on an ambitious journey to finalise energy audits for 98 public buildings and 40,000 street lighting points, identifying the set of energy efficiency and /or renewable energy related interventions as well as publishing the tendering documentation to launch a €20m investment programme (estimated) in renovation works and preferably selecting an ESCO company to realise the measures within a two year timeframe. eeef will be accompanying the City during the whole process, while collaborating with the management team proposed by the City side by side.

eeef is confident being the right partner for medium-sized European cities which have the drive and willingness to elaborate and implement investment programmes and as a result offer their citizens a more clean and liveable environment.

eeef is welcoming other European cities to follow suit the case study of Gijón in launching comparable projects – the new eeef Technical Assistance is available for further applications. Please visit: http://www.eeef.eu/eeef-ta-facility.html

City of Gijón is the largest municipality with a population of 270,000 citizens in the community of Austurias in Spain. Since 3 years, the City has been developing its European agenda and positioning itself as ‘Gijón en Europa’ with a number of projects and initiatives at European level.

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.

Further links:
http://www.elcomercio.es/gijon/201705/05/europa-audita-alumbrado-gijon-20170505025812-v.html
http://www.lne.es/gijon/2017/05/05/ayuntamiento-auditara-98-edificios-municipales/2099502.html

2017-02-23

SPL OSER in Région Rhône-Alpes delivered investments facilitated by the Technical Assistance of eeef combining market based funding

Grenoble/Luxembourg – The Société Publique Locale - Opérateur de Services Energétiques Régional of Rhône-Alpes (SPL-OSER, Regional Energy Service Public Company) has successfully ended the Technical Assistance (TA) program funded by the European Commission via the European Energy Efficiency Fund (eeef).

SPL-OSER received financial support for the TA over the first three years of activity, to develop and implement the project structure, run energy audits, legal assistance and cover all related staff-costs.

After one year of start-up phase, SPL-OSER has initiated the renovation program, which at the end of 2015 embraced 10 buildings owned by the municipalities of Bourg-en-Bresse, Cran-Gevrier and Montmélian and by the Région Rhône-Alpes totaling investments for €25.1m.

SPL-OSER demonstrated that each euro spent on TA was able to generate over 22.3 times in long-term investments, with this having met and exceeded the leverage ratio initially required of 1:20. On top of the TA, EEEF directly provided a loan of EUR 5m to finance the projects from the design phase to construction and final commissioning and refinancing. Another remarkable effect of the eeef facility is that local and national financial institutions found the way paved and provided a short- and long-term financing. The global support received via eeef ultimately created the conditions to make the expected savings of CO2 equivalent - 1,000 tons/year - reality.

The initiative highlights an innovative role for a public body, materially acting as project manager specialized on energy efficiency investments for public assets. Another interesting feature is the adopted strategy of blending public and private finance, subsidized facilities with the market tools. The outcome from the financial, legal and operational structure of SPL-OSER is a program finalized on time and on budget, pioneer to others already under development, which attracted new shareholders and created a benchmark for similar upcoming initiatives in other regions of the country.

The SPL was initiated by the Région Rhône-Alpes (France), associated with a number of public authorities in the Region and is dedicated to implement energy efficiency projects for public buildings, including renewable energy production. Any local authority from the Region can become a shareholder and benefit from SPL-OSER services provided that it recognizes the statute and the mission of the company. The program embraces schools and other aging public buildings in the municipalities of the Region. By setting an example of building upgrade, the SPL aims to achieve its 2050 objectives of energy consumption and GHG reduction, while setting a good practice and a benchmark for this sector.

The European Energy Efficiency Fund (EEEF) S.A., SICAV-SIF is a “societé d’investissement à capital variable” 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 sponsors European Investment Bank, Cassa Depositi e Prestiti as well as the Investment Manager Deutsche Bank.

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