Cross Sectoral
Aradippou - Cyprus
Aradippou’s solution was an initiative from the city council including the technoeconomic support of the EU Affairs Advisor of the Municipality. Under the scheme envisaged by the municipality, citizens will be rewarded for their solar PV investments by receiving payments on a municipality coordinated credit card called the “Oxygen Rewards Card”.
The purpose of the card is to link local citizens’ PV investments, and the associated emissions reductions, with actors purchasing carbon offsets on compliance or voluntary carbon markets. It would ideally become a permanent municipal service through its One-Stop-Shop with reductions in CO2 emissions regularly reported and verified by local energy auditors.
Dolomites - Italy
Within the 3L Project (Less Energy, Less Costs, Less Impact), 29 Municipalities of the Belluno province will be able to energetically redevelop 60 buildings and 17,000 street lighting points, as well as 10 technical institutes and hotel schools.
Edison Facility Solutions SpA, offered over € 11 million of investment, of which € 7 million for municipal buildings and just over € 4 million reserved for provincial school buildings. The ESCo guarantees 52% of overall energy savings, of which 5%, just under 90,000 €. At the end of the contracts, in 15 years, 100% of the savings will be attributed to the consortium members.
PM4PM - Estonia
The PM4PM Project (Preparation and Mobilisation of Financing for Sustainable Energy Investments in Primorska Region Municipalities) financed sustainable projects in 5 sectors within 33 municipilaties,through the ELENA Grant from 2016 to 2019. PM4PM operated in the following sectors:
- Building Retrofit: improving the energy efficiency of public buildings in municipalities with the most energy saving potential.
- District Heating: renovation of existing small-scale district heating systems and installation of new ones.
- Street Lighting: improving the energy efficiency of street lighting systems.
- Clean Transport: introduction of electric vehicle charging stations, electric vehicles for public services, and compressed natural gas stations.
- Local Energy-Efficient Utilities: energy management and optimisation of infrastructure systems operation.
Albertville - FRANCE
Intracting is a process that enhances energy performance by collecting savings from auto financing measures for new energy savings. This practice presents itself as a municipal fund implemented by financial services, which grants loans to technical services for energy savings projects.
These funds are actived by savings and applied to new measures which then generate their own energy savings. These funds grow over the years generating new resources due the multiplifying effect and reduction of energy spendings that they generate.
Prague Renewable Energy Community - Czech Republic
The Prague Renewable Energy Community (PSOE) was founded in 2021 as a city organisation of the Capital City of Prague. The organisation was established for the purpose of providing comprehensive services related to the preparation, implementation and operation of electricity generation (hereinafter referred to as "production RES"). At the same time, these production facilities will be located both on real estate assets (buildings or land) owned by the City, and additionally on real estate and other natural and legal persons who are interested in participating in the entity. PSOE owns a licence for the production and sale of electricity and will be able to purchase surplus electricity produced on cost effective conditions and supply it to other points of consumption also on cost-effective conditions.
Regional biomass: Diakonie project in Austria
The oil boilers that supplied a centre for people with disabilities were replaced with a modern, low emission biomass system – saving 220,000 litres of oil and 800 tonnes of CO2 per year – and this, without capital investment by the owner! The 1,096,000 Euro investment project was carried out with energy contracting: an ESCO planned, financed, constructed and operates the heating system. Since October 2020, the centre is supplied to 100% with environment-friendly, renewable heat from regional biomass.
Sustainable Tipp: Tipperary - Ireland
In 2017 an in-depth overview of County Tipperary’s emission statistics and proposed actions to improve energy efficiency and renewable deployment in Tipperary was completed. This formed the action plan now referred to as Sustainable Tipp. This plan was an official recognition on behalf of County Tipperary of its responsibility to improve the environmental standards associated with its jurisdiction and a detailed action-by-action synopsis of how this may be achieved. The aim of Sustainable Tipp is to generate actions that will reduce Tipperary’s emissions by 30% from the 2005 baseline year.
PE4PTRANS: Public Engagement for Sustainable Public Transport - Europe
PE4Trans addresses the issue of potential for improvement of public transport policies by including citizens to the process of design and implementation of sustainable transport strategies and plans with the view to change peoples’ mobility habits and routines incorporating findings of behavioural sciences.
Building an Energy Agency in Modena (Bologna), Emilia- Romagna Region, Italy
AESS is a legally recognised non-profit association working on sustainable energy development at territorial level. Founded in 1999 with EU SAVE II support, it acts as in-house technical body for approximately 180 municipalities. It is located in Emilia-Romagna Region (headquarters in Modena) , and conducts activities also in Apulia and Lazio Regions.
Set-up an energy community in the Alto Vicentino area, Veneto Region, Italy with diversified funding sources
The Energy Community (or Comunità Energetica Rinnovabile – CER in Italian) has seen the initial engagement of 16 municipalities during its set-up activities. The aim was to create an energy community as a platform of opportunities for an area of around 100.000 inhabitants.in the Alto Vicentino area, with headquarter in Thiene (Vicenza Province).
AURA-EE – A Regional Energy Agency Supporting Local Authorities: From Vision to Implementation
Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Énergie Environnement(AURA-EE) is one of the first regional energy agencies created in Europe, established nearly 48 years ago to support local authorities in addressing energy challenges.
A Story about ENERGAP: 20 years of Energy and Climate Agency of Podravje
ENERGAP was founded with a clear mission: to transform energy challenges—sustainability, energy efficiency, decarbonisation, and the deployment of renewable energy sources—into concrete development opportunities. Our journey began as the Energy Agency of Podravje, working closely with municipalities, public institutions, and regional partners to improve energy efficiency, promote renewable energy, and translate strategic goals into tangible actions.
OÖ Energiesparverband (ESV): Shaping the Energy Transition in Upper Austria
The Energiesparverband (ESV) is the regional energy agency of Upper Austria, founded in 1991 by the regional government. ESV has a key role in achieving the region's success in energy decarbonisation and climate neutrality: It drives the energy transition with comprehensive activities on energy efficiency, renewable energy, e-mobility and innovative energy technologies by working with the entire range of stakeholders.
OÖ Energiesparverband (ESV): Empowering Energy Communities in Upper Austria
The Renewable Energy Directive 2018 introduced a new concept: Renewable Energy Communities (RECs), where citizens, SMEs and public bodies are allowed to produce, consume, store, sell and share renewable energy in local proximity without an electricity retailer. Austria was among the first Member States to fully transpose the relevant articles of the Directive, enabling the establishment of RECs in 2021. In Austria, RECs benefit from reduced grid fees for electricity shared between the members. They have to form a legal entity, in most cases this is an association (which is very easy to set up). There are no bureaucratic requirements (other than the interaction with the DSO) for starting and running a REC. Many of the Energy Communities are developed and managed by volunteers.
OÖ Energiesparverband (ESV) One-Stop Shops: From Idea to Implementation
OÖ Energiesparverband operates 3 One Stop Shops (OSS) that provide comprehensive support for key aspects of the energy transition in Upper Austria. They focus on building renovation, energy communities, and energy performance contracting (EPC). These One Stop Shops are designed to simplify complex processes and offer coordinated, practical assistance from a single point of contact.
Building an Energy Agency in Ireland as not-for-profit social enterprise
Tipperary Energy Agency (TEA) was established in March 1998 as a partnership between local authorities and a third level institute, TEA provides building and renewable energy services including feasibility, detailed design, public procurement, tendering, project management and grant coordination. Delivery partners include local authorities, public bodies, communities, SMEs and European project consortia. Estimated cumulative impacts including 35 million kWh saved and 12,594 tonnes CO2 reduced across its project portfolio.
Implementation of energy saving funds in the French region Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Intracting In France, many local authorities suffer a lack of expertise and/or financial capacities when it comes to financing energy transition measures. This collective training helps mentees prepare and implement their own energy saving funds ("intracting" funds), based on the model of a local "great witness" : Albertville. Over the four training sessions, the mentees can question each of the fundamental aspects of this scheme : strategy, organization, finance & technique.
White Certificates in the French region Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
In France, the white certificate aid scheme is complex to implement from an administrative point of view and in terms of the technical expertise it requires. This has two main consequences: small municipalities often find themselves unable to access to white certificates, and those that do find a solution often lose many certificates for administrative reasons. Eight energy syndicates in the AURA region have found a method of submitting white certifical as a consortium sharing alternatively the adminstrative and offering their technical expertise to the municipalities of their territory. It offers a solution for small municipalities and limits the risk of loosing white certificates. This innovative strategy deserves to be replicated on a larger scale.
Sustainable Tipp: Accelerating Tipperary’s Transition to a sustainable, low carbon economy
Sustainable Tipperary (Sustainable Tipp/TIPP) used the ELENA technical assistance facility to scale a county-wide One Stop Shop (OSS) for deep home retrofits, community and public building upgrades, and energy-efficient public street lighting across County Tipperary. The Tipperary Energy Agency (TEA) provided end-to-end support including audits and feasibility studies, technical design support, contractor engagement, and grant administration for private homeowners, schools, and community organisations. Between August 2017 and January 2021, the programme mobilised €30.2m of investment (about 300 homes, 60 non-residential/community buildings, and ~600 lighting points).
Capacity building for cities and regions | PROSPECT+