Clean energy transition plans and strategies in municipalities and regions

Deadline: Sep 19, 2024  
- 133 days

The topic aims to provide local and regional authorities with the necessary capacity, integrated approaches and organisational structures to deliver and implement plans and strategies for the clean energy transition (CET).

Local and regional authorities (LRAs) are a decisive lever for achieving the EU Green Deal objectives in the short, medium and long-term, such as the 2030 climate and energy targets as set out in the European Climate Law and the relevant ‘Fit for 55’⁶ legislative revisions – in particular the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Directives.

LRAs also have a very relevant role to play in phasing out EU dependence on fossil fuel imports, within the framework of the REPowerEU Plan¹⁰, and are well-placed to contribute to specific initiatives such as the preparation and implementation of National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs) and their updates; the development of local heating and cooling plans in municipalities and the leading role of the public sector on energy efficiency; the Renovation Wave¹¹ and mobilisation of investment in clean energy; the Just Transition Mechanism¹²; the speed-up of Renewable Energy Sources (RES) permitting processes¹⁴ and the implementation of the EU solar strategy¹⁵, among others.

Many municipalities and other public bodies have already set ambitious clean energy transition targets, for instance through Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plans¹⁶ (SECAPs) or similar, and there is now a clear need to deliver on these plans/strategies and implement sustainable energy actions in the short, medium and longer term at an unprecedented level of ambition and pace, in order to comply with the EU’s energy and climate targets.

Therefore, it is critical that LRAs develop and reinforce their capacities and skills to deliver and implement CET plans and strategies. This is particularly needed for small and medium municipalities, rural and isolated areas, and carbon-intensive regions – which might also benefit from previous successful experience and know-how of frontrunners on similar challenges.

Delivering the energy transition in a holistic manner requires LRAs to put in place an integrated approach to implement sustainable energy actions, ensuring a strong political commitment, the allocation of clear responsibilities and the identification of appropriate resources and financing opportunities. This could be supported by robust and long-lasting organisational structures, with the aim of mainstreaming the carbon neutrality goal within all relevant sectors (energy production and consumption, buildings, district heating and cooling, mobility and transport, land-use, waste, water, health, etc.), mutually reinforcing sectoral policies and accelerating on the implementation. These new or existing structures could include, for instance, multidisciplinary and cross-sectoral teams within the LRAs and should facilitate timely and relevant dialogue and collaboration with other governance levels and key stakeholders.

Actions should consider potential synergies and cooperation with complementary EU initiatives addressing the role of LRAs in the clean energy transition, notably the Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy, the Clean Energy for EU Islands Initiative¹⁷, the Horizon Europe Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities Mission¹⁸, ManagEnergy¹⁹, BUILD UP Skills²⁰, and other potentially relevant initiatives. Existing technical assistance and private financing support initiatives such as the European Local Energy Assistance (ELENA) Facility²¹, LIFE CET Project Development Assistance (PDA), Smart Cities Marketplace²², the EU City Facility²³ should also be taken into account in view of accessing dedicated support for financing the implementation of sustainable energy actions foreseen under the local and regional CET plans.

Actions should provide technical support to a significant number of LRAs, depending on the targeted context, and build their capacities to deliver and implement ambitious short and medium-term CET plans and strategies for 2030 – with a potential to pave the way for the 2050 carbon neutrality goal – in coherence with the EU energy and climate targets and relevant policies and initiatives.

The focus should be on delivering the right mix of activities that will build/increase lasting technical, legal, financial, administrative and social innovation skills among LRAs with a clear aim to initiate the implementation of sustainable energy actions with an integrated approach in their constituencies.

Proposals should address one or more of the following bullet points, provided the proposed activities are relevant and coherent. Addressing more than one point does not necessarily increase the relevance of the proposal.

• Deliver extensive and in-depth capacity building programmes for policy-makers and public officers on the implementation of CET plans and actions. Capacity buildings programmes should be of scale, ambitious in terms of number of trained participants and volume and depth of the training offer, with lasting effects and tailored to specific needs and national languages, as appropriate.
• Develop and pilot blueprints and integrated approaches that help municipalities develop and streamline actionable heating and cooling plans which align with the carbon neutrality goal and other sectoral policies. Bundle efforts at regional or other appropriate levels to provide support services for municipalities on this theme. Facilitate dialogue with relevant stakeholders, citizens and various governance levels including national authorities.
• Establish and/or enhance organisational structures to mainstream the carbon neutrality goal and coordinate the implementation and monitoring of integrated clean energy transition plans and facilitate effective exchanges among different governance levels and active engagement of public and private stakeholders, including citizens and/or communities.

Proposals must be submitted by at least 3 applicants (beneficiaries; not affiliated entities) from 3 different eligible countries.

The Commission considers that proposals requesting a contribution from the EU of up to EUR 1.75 million would allow the specific objectives to be addressed appropriately. Nonetheless, this does not preclude submission and selection of proposals requesting other amounts.

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 include a detailed analysis of the starting point and a set of well-substantiated assumptions, and establish clear causality links between the results and the expected impacts.

Proposals submitted under this topic should demonstrate how they will contribute to providing capacity, skills and appropriate structures to local and regional authorities for delivering and implementing plans and strategies for the clean energy transition.

Proposals should quantify their results and impacts using the indicators provided for the topic, when they are relevant for the proposed activities. They should also propose indicators which are specific to the proposed activities. Proposals are not expected to address all the listed impacts and indicators. The results and impacts should be quantified for the end of the project and for 5 years after the end of the project.

The indicators for this topic include:

• Number of clean energy transition actions implemented (or initiated) by the end of the action.
• Financial resources dedicated or earmarked for the implementation of CET plans/strategies and specific CET actions.
• Number of policies/plans/strategies established through the action.
• Number of policymakers/public officers with improved capacity/skills.
• Average number of training hours per participant for capacity building programmes.
• Number of organisational structures created/reinforced.
• Number of institutionalised dialogues/cooperations within and beyond public authorities, including peers, private stakeholders and/or civil society.
• Number of public and private stakeholders engaged.
• Demonstration of secured political commitment and necessary resources.

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

• Primary energy savings triggered by the project in GWh/year.
• Final energy savings triggered by the project in GWh/year.
• Renewable energy generation triggered by the project (in GWh/year).
• Reduction of greenhouse gases emissions (in tCO₂-eq/year).
• Investments in sustainable energy (energy efficiency and renewable energy) triggered by the project (cumulative, in million Euro).