The European Commission and European Investment Bank (EIB)
expect theEuropean Local Energy Assistance (ELENA) facility launched
in December tosupport more than EUR 1 billion of energy efficiency and
renewable energyprojects in 2010. A first agreement with the province of
Barcelona will besigned in April, it was announced at the launch of the EU’s
SustainableEnergy Week in Brussels. The EIB is currently in detailed
discussions with 16other cities or regions about their investment plans to increase
energyefficiency and develop renewable energy.
European Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger said: "This
is an example of howan idea presented during last year’s Covenant of Mayors
Ceremony is now a realityand having an impact on the ground. ELENA is a chance for
cities and regions tohelp themselves by implementing Sustainable Energy Action
Plans that create jobs,and at the same time help Europe as a whole meet its climate
goals. After the strongresponse from cities and regions, we intend to double
available ELENA funding toEUR 30 million.”EIB President Philippe Maystadt said: “ELENA is a good
example of how limitedbudget money can be leveraged with EIB loans to support EU
policy objectives.
Theresponse has shown there is real interest from cities and
regions in this kind ofassistance. We look forward to working with the Commission
over the comingmonths on similar innovative financing products to support
the EU’s 2020 Strategy.”Urban areas represent around 70% of the energy consumption
of the EU, yet thescope for sustainable energy related investments remains
largely unused. TheELENA facility is designed to help cities and regions unlock
this potential byproviding technical assistance to structure and implement
projects in the mostefficient way so they can attract finance from local banks
or other sources, such asEIB.
The technical assistance is funded from the Intelligent
Energy Europe II (IEE)programme.More than 200 cities or regions have already sought concrete
information about theprogramme. The EUR 500 mn Barcelona project is alone
projected to save 280GWh of energy each year and reduce CO2 emissions annually by
the equivalent of170,000 to 200,000 tonnes. Four other projects are being
finalised which areexpected to unlock a further EUR 500 mn of investment over
the next 12 months.Technical assistance, supported by the ELENA facility, can
be provided to a local orregional authority or another public body or a grouping of
such bodies coming fromthe countries participating in the IEE programme with a
strategy to curb their CO2emissions. The investment programmes supported by the
facility shall contribute toachieving the 20-20-20 objectives. Full details of the
conditions attached to the grantfinancing and an explanatory brochure are available at: www.eib.org/elena