Grants for Sustainable Energy Investment Concepts from the European City Facility

The European City Facility (EUCF) initiative, funded under the European Union's LIFE Programme (and previously supported by Horizon 2020), was created to provide rapid, simplified, and targeted financial and technical support to local authorities. The primary objective of the project is to support municipalities, their formal or informal groupings, and local public entities aggregating municipalities in transforming their long-term climate and energy strategies into mature and viable Investment Concepts.

Most European municipalities develop ambitious Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plans (SECAPs) or detailed Local Heating and Cooling Plans, but face a critical shortage of internal financial and legal capacity to prepare full business plans. Early project development stages are rarely prioritized in local budgets and are not financed by commercial banks. Furthermore, small municipal projects remain fragmented and unattractive to private institutional capital. The EUCF eliminates these barriers by providing municipalities with €60,000 grants to mobilize necessary resources and engage technical expertise.

The resulting Investment Concept bridges the gap between an initial project idea and a complete financial plan. It translates technical energy efficiency and renewable energy measures into bankable financial language, making it significantly easier for municipalities to access follow-up funding from the private sector, national investment platforms, or specialized European instruments (such as the ELENA facility by the European Investment Bank).

Under the 8th call, the EUCF allocates a total budget of €3,720,000 to support 62 Investment Concepts across three geographical regions in Europe. For the Central and Eastern Europe region (which includes Ukraine alongside Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Moldova, Montenegro, and North Macedonia), 23 grants are available.

The programme is open to:

1. Municipalities and local authorities (city, town, rural councils, and their executive bodies).
2. Groupings of municipalities (formal or informal): multiple local authorities joining forces to implement a joint project (must designate a Lead Applicant in the application).
3. Local public entities aggregating municipalities: supra-municipal bodies officially recognized as local government under national law, composed exclusively of municipalities, with a specific administrative and political structure (e.g., district councils / "Raions" in Ukraine).

Mandatory Eligibility Criteria:

• Applicants must be located entirely in EU-27 Member States, Iceland, Ukraine, Moldova, Montenegro, or North Macedonia.
• Valid climate/energy plan: applicants must have an approved Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan (SECAP) developed under the Covenant of Mayors, another official local climate/energy plan with quantitative mitigation targets, OR a Local Heating and Cooling Plan.
• Political commitment: submission of a signed Letter of Support from the Mayor or relevant political representative (using the mandatory EUCF English template).
• Monitoring commitment: formal agreement to participate in the 2-year post-submission monitoring period.
• No prior EUCF funding: the applicant (or the specific investment project) has not received grant funding under previous EUCF calls (Calls 1–7).

The programme provides financial support in the form of a fixed grant (lump sum) of €60,000 per selected application. The grant covers 100% of eligible costs required to develop an Investment Concept, meaning mandatory co-financing is not required.

Eligible costs:

• Labor costs for in-house staff and municipal employees (if sufficient internal capacity exists).
• Fees for external consultants, technical, legal, and financial experts, or subcontractors.
• Preparation of technical feasibility studies and engineering assessments.
• Detailed energy audits, market analyses, social studies, and risk assessments.
• Financial modeling, legal analysis, and investment package structuring.
• Participation in specialized capacity-building events organized by the EUCF.

Ineligible costs and restrictions:

• The grant cannot directly fund physical construction or assembly work, equipment procurement, or actual capital investments.
• Funding is strictly prohibited for projects involving unabated fossil fuels (oil or natural gas production, traditional gas infrastructure, power generation with GHG emissions above 250 g CO₂/kWh, as well as large-scale heat production based on coal, peat, oil, or gas).

The EUCF grant funds a comprehensive set of preparatory analytical, technical, and financial activities required to transform strategic ideas into an investment-ready concept.

Core work and expense areas:

• Technical feasibility studies, site assessments, and engineering calculations.
• In-depth energy audits of public and residential infrastructure.
• Legal analyses (ownership structure, regulatory risk assessment, PPP model development).
• Financial and economic analyses (CAPEX/OPEX, IRR, NPV calculations, financial modeling).
• Market analyses and stakeholder engagement (consultations with residents, businesses, investors).
• Capacity building for municipal staff through the EUCF Learning Programme.

Supported sectors and investment focus areas:

• Public buildings (renovation, thermal insulation, and energy efficiency upgrades of schools, hospitals, administrative buildings, social housing).
• Private residential and non-residential buildings (incentive programmes for multi-apartment or commercial building insulation).
• Building-integrated renewables (rooftop/facade solar PV, heat pumps, biomass systems).
• District heating and cooling networks (boiler modernization, fuel switching to renewables, waste heat recovery, network digitalization).
• Sustainable urban mobility (public transport electrification, e-bus procurement, charging infrastructure development).
• Innovative energy infrastructure (energy communities/cooperatives, energy storage integration, smart grids).
• Renewable energy production infrastructure (wind, solar PV, biogas plants, green hydrogen).
• Public street lighting (conversion to LED with smart management controls).
• Waste heat recovery (utilizing excess heat from industrial processes, data centers, wastewater treatment).

• 26 October 2026 (00:00 Brussels time): Official opening of Call 8 applications via the online platform.
• 21 December 2026 (17:00 Brussels time): Submission deadline for completed application forms and required PDF documents.
• Within 2 months after deadline (January – February 2027): Proposal evaluation by an independent expert panel.
• February 2027: Official email notification of results to applicants and publication of individual Feedback Reports.
• Within 2 months after notification (February – April 2027): Preparation, review, and signing of the Grant Agreement between the beneficiary and the programme coordinator (Energy Cities).
• Immediately after Grant Agreement signature: Disbursement of the first pre-financing tranche of 65% (€39,000).
• Up to 12 months from Grant Agreement signature: Investment Concept development period by the beneficiary and engaged experts.
• After concept submission: Quality validation of the Investment Concept by an evaluation team and final tranche disbursement of 35% (€21,000).
• Over 2 years following submission: Investment project implementation monitoring period (submission of two monitoring reports at 12 and 24 months, respectively).

1. Pass the online Eligibility Check: visit the official website eucityfacility.eu and answer "YES" to 6 automated criteria questions. Results are provided immediately.
2. Access the User Zone: upon successful completion, login credentials for the application portal (EUCF Website User Zone) will be sent via email.
3. Fill in the online application form: enter required information in English across 4 main sections:
   1. Applicant Identification (contact details, NUTS 3 / Raion codes, population).
   2. Political Commitments (climate plan details and emission reduction targets).
   3. Proposed Investment Project (description, timeline, expected investment size in EUR, energy savings in GWh/y, CO₂ reduction).
   4. Use of EUCF Support (intended grant allocation).
4. Upload 2 mandatory PDF documents: attach PDF files of the active climate/energy plan and the signed Letter of Support.
5. Submit application: review all data and submit online before 21 December 2026, 17:00 (Brussels time).

Proposals are evaluated on a 20-point scale by an independent expert team (each application is reviewed by at least two evaluators). Applications are assessed across four main criteria:

• Ambition of the proposed investment concept (Ambition) — max. 7 points (no quality threshold applies):

• • Expected investment size (total and per capita).
  • Expected energy savings and renewable energy generation (absolute and per capita).
  • Project cost-effectiveness.
  • Focus on energy efficiency: projects where more than 50% of the total impact comes from energy savings receive the maximum score of 2.5 points for this sub-criterion.
  • Potential for replication and/or upscaling in other municipalities or regions.

• Governance structure for concept development (Governance structure) — max. 5 points (quality threshold: 2.5/5 points):

• • Clarity of roles and responsibilities among involved actors.
  • Clear decision-making processes and designated decision-makers.
  • Assessment of internal municipal capacity and justification for engaging external experts.
  • Overall robustness and structure of the governance system.

• Stakeholders' engagement strategy (Stakeholders' engagement strategy) — max. 5 points (quality threshold: 2.5/5 points):

  • Identification of key external stakeholders, their needs, and expectations.
  • Clarity and appropriateness of planned engagement activities, communication tools, and implementation timeline.

• Coherence and plausibility (Coherence and plausibility) — max. 3 points (quality threshold: 1.5/3 points):

  • Realism of estimated investment costs and energy savings figures relative to the local context.
  • Complete, high-quality application form without contradictions.
  • Uniqueness of application: applications containing copied or duplicate content compared to other submissions in the same call are rejected under this criterion (0 points).

When submitting the online application in the user zone, applicants must upload two mandatory PDF files:

1. Active climate and/or energy plan:
   • A Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan (SECAP) under the Covenant of Mayors, another official local climate/energy plan with mitigation targets, OR a Local Heating and Cooling Plan.
   • Must contain at least one quantitative target (energy savings, renewable generation, or CO₂ reduction).
   • May be submitted in the national (Ukrainian) language.
2. Official Letter of Support:
   • A confirmation letter of commitment to develop the Investment Concept, signed by the mayor or another authorized political representative.
   • Must be written strictly in English using the official EUCF template (downloadable from the website). Applications using non-standard letter formats will be rejected.

Within 12 months from the Grant Agreement signature date, the beneficiary must develop and submit the final Investment Concept package online, comprising:

1. Main Investment Concept Template: a detailed document that may be completed in the national (Ukrainian) language.
2. English Summary: a concise overview of the concept for international investors.
3. Financial Model: cash flow projections, payback period calculations, capital structure, and financial risk assessments.
4. Investors' Deck: a concise visual presentation for investors.
5. Letter of Support for Implementation: an official document signed by the mayor confirming readiness to implement the developed concept.

Validation and Monitoring:

• The submitted package is reviewed by a dedicated validation team (evaluators from GNE Finance and Enviros). Only after a positive quality validation confirming compliance with the initial application will the final 35% grant balance (€21,000) be released.
• After concept approval, a mandatory 2-year monitoring period begins. Beneficiaries must complete two simple online forms (at 1 and 2 years, respectively), reporting on mobilised investment amounts, project implementation status, and encountered barriers.

• Grant Agreement: Selected applicants must sign a bilateral legal Grant Agreement with the programme coordinator (Energy Cities) within 2 months of receiving official selection notification.
• Terms for Groupings: For joint applications from groupings of municipalities, the designated Lead Applicant signs the Grant Agreement and assumes full legal and financial responsibility for receiving the grant and disbursing it among partner municipalities.
• Grant Annulment: If a selected beneficiary fails to sign the Grant Agreement within the 2-month window, the EUCF reserves the right to annul the award decision and reallocate funding to the next applicant on the regional reserve list.
• Intellectual Property and Reporting: All developed materials, analyses, and intellectual property rights remain the exclusive property of the beneficiary. However, beneficiaries agree to provide anonymized impact data and participate in the 2-year post-submission monitoring phase.