Scaling up smart and clean energy solutions for affordability in EU cities

About this call

Expected Impact:

Proposals should present the concrete results which will be delivered by the activities and demonstrate how these results will contribute to the topic-specific impacts. This demonstration should rely on a solid analysis of the current situation, realistic assumptions and baselines, and establish clear causality links between activities, results and impacts.

In terms of qualitative impact, proposals under this topic should demonstrate how they will contribute to empower local ecosystems to bring to scale smart, clean and energy efficient energy solutions that contribute to improving energy affordability for European citizens, amongst others by facilitating local consumption and production of renewable energy.

In terms of quantitative impact, proposals should quantify their results and impacts using the indicators provided for the topic, when they are relevant for the proposed activities. The results and impacts should be quantified for the end of the project and for 5 years after the end of the project. The quantitative indicators for this topic include:

Number of scale-up roadmaps developed and finalised, in line with the requirements

Number of smart local energy solutions (projected to be) implemented

Number of local authorities and stakeholders supported by EmpowerEUcities

Number of peer-to-peer/capacity building activities

Number of local authority staff and stakeholders with increased capacity on the planning, design and implementation of smart local energy solutions

Number of citizens involved in the activities and Scale-Up Roadmaps

Proposals should also provide indicators which are specific to their proposed activities.

Proposals should also quantify their impacts related to the following common indicators for the LIFE Clean Energy Transition sub-programme:

Investments in sustainable energy (energy efficiency and small-scale renewables) triggered by the project (cumulative, in million Euro)

Primary energy savings triggered by the project (GWh/year)

Renewable energy generation triggered by the project (GWh/year)

Reduction of greenhouse gases emissions (in tCO2-eq/year).

Funding rate

Other Action Grants (OAGs) — 95%

Objective:

This topic aims to set up the EmpowerEUcities support initiative to accelerate the roll-out of smart distributed energy solutions that help to provide tangible economic benefits for citizens in European cities.

The recently published Citizens Energy Package communication [1] includes an action point aimed at boosting the use of clean and energy efficient technologies that will contribute to improving energy affordability for European citizens, amongst others by facilitating local consumption and production of renewable energy. Many successful solutions have been developed and demonstrated under EU-funded programmes such as Horizon Europe, LIFE Clean Energy Transition, and the Innovation Fund.

EmpowerEUcities focuses on scaling up demonstrated solutions, which can refer to a) expanding or replicating within the same local authority a solution already successfully piloted in that city; or b) replicating in a local authority a solution successfully piloted in another city. The gap between demonstration and market deployment is often due to a lack of capacity in the local context, lack of cooperation amongst the necessary partners (such as local authorities, local/regional energy agencies, system operators, communities and citizens, financial actors, amongst others) and lack of fit-for-purpose governance models that would facilitate the financial, regulatory, organisational and social environment needed for the implementation of smart energy solutions.

EmpowerEUcities will deliver scale-up roadmaps agreed between local authorities and relevant stakeholders such as system operators, technology and/or service providers, financiers, and community actors to translate the solutions demonstrated under EU programmes (Horizon Europe, Innovation Fund) into full-scale, market-ready infrastructure, delivering direct benefits to EU citizens.

EmpowerEUcities builds on the strengths and expertise of other EU city initiatives, in particular the Smart Cities & Communities Lighthouse Programme and Scalable Cities, and strengthens the implementation arm of the Covenant of Mayors to help cities deliver on their 2030 and 2050 political commitments through the implementation of actions identified in their climate and energy action plans.

The EU is facing important increases in energy prices, driven by market volatility and exacerbated by its dependence on imported fossil fuels. A key priority for the EU is to strengthen the resilience of its energy system vis-a-vis geopolitical crises impacting the global energy market. Therefore, applicants under this topic are invited, where possible, to develop and implement long-term structural sustainable and energy efficiency measures to enhance EU energy system resilience against future crises, in coherence with short-term energy relief measures needed to respond to the current shock on the global energy markets.

Scope:

Under this topic, one proposal will be selected to set up and manage an integrated initiative which offers capacity building and financial support for local administrations and relevant stakeholders to plan, finance, implement, manage and monitor specific smart, clean and energy efficient energy solutions that contribute to improving energy affordability for European citizens, amongst others by facilitating local consumption and production of renewable energy. The activities should include capacity building and peer-to-peer learning, the delivery of lump sum grants to local authorities and monitoring, capitalisation and communication.

Requirements regarding capacity building activities

The capacity building support should target local authorities and relevant stakeholders, focusing on:

The identification of the smart solutions relevant for their needs, by mobilising existing resources available at EU level (e.g. through Horizon Europe projects or Scalable Cities)