Many EU towns and regions lack the necessary technical expertise and organisational capacity to implement large energy efficiency and renewables projects. The benefits of cutting energy use and pollution are clear, but the challenge is to guarantee value for money and timeliness, as well as securing extra funding. ELENA (“European Local ENergy Assistance”) is there to help. Run by the EIB, it is funded through the European Commission’s Intelligent Energy-Europe programme.

How ELENA helps

ELENA covers up to 90% of the technical support cost needed to prepare, implement and finance the investment programme. This could include feasibility and market studies, programme structuring, energy audits and tendering procedure preparation. With solid business and technical plans in place, this will also help attract funding from private banks and other sources, including the EIB. So whether it is the retrofitting of public and private buildings, sustainable building, energy-efficient district heating and cooling networks, environmentally-friendly transport etc, ELENA helps local authorities get their projects on the right track.

Budget

Funds are currently available to support projects under the Facility. When funds will be exhausted, a notice will be posted on this webpage.

Elena - Project Factsheets as of 16/07/2014 (Information available at project start)

Contacting the EIB

ELENA assistance may facilitate access to EIB finance or finance from another bank. You can contact us through elena@eib.org - by telephone, fax, e-mail or letter. For a first contact we will need a brief description of the planned investment (e.g. type of investment, approach to  implementation), the expected investment cost and time schedule for the programme, plus the amount, scope and main needs to be addressed by the requested technical assistance.

For additional information on EU initiatives on climate change and renewable energies, please visit the following websites:

The Climate Action and Renewable Energy Package, Europe's Climate Change Opportunity
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/climat/climate_action.htm
The Covenant of Mayors
http://www.eumayors.eu/
Intelligent Energy Europe
http://ec.europa.eu/energy/intelligent/