ELENA - Mobilising local energy investments

by Floriane Bernardot on 21 June 2011 / 243 visites

Access to finance, both public and private, is based on increasingly complex procedures...

As a result, a substantial amount of the available funding remains unused whilst expectations from cities for financial support to implement sustainable energy projects remain high. The European Local Energy Assistance (ELENA) facility demonstrates how technical assistance for developing bankable projects is paramount to triggering investment in sustainable energy at regional or local level. It accounts for 15 Mio EUR per year and helps innovative financing schemes be implemented.

Building on the idea of ELENA, it is crucial to create an instrument that puts all local authorities, whatever their size, and local banks in a position to apply for such a financial engineering assistance facility on a large scale and in a decentralised manner.

As a matter of fact, the 146 Mio EUR from the unspent money of the EU Economic Recovery Plan offer an exceptional opportunity for initiating a ‘’network’’ of local, regional and national banks that would support sustainable energy projects in cities. Beyond the EIB instruments, cities need to see a practical return for their commitment. They must all be in a situation to use this facility by themselves or with their principal banks.