Municipalities, regions, and other public building operators often face a paradox: they need to quickly reduce energy consumption and emissions, but their budgets and debt capacity are insufficient for capital-intensive renovations. The solution is to mobilise private capital through structured cooperation between public authorities and financial partners.
The LEVERAGE project paves the way for easier use of private sources to finance capital-intensive investments in energy efficiency and decarbonisation of public institutions‘ assets, with a focus on municipalities and regions. This addresses a fundamental problem faced by public authorities, which do not have sufficient budgets or the ability to borrow enough to make the large-scale investments required by Articles 5 and 6 of the Energy Efficiency Directive.
To achieve this objective, a mechanism called an accelerator will be developed, combining a methodology for connecting partners with practical mentoring and targeted training. This approach brings together private financial partners and public authorities, helping them to understand each other‘s needs, while providing technical expertise and support in the early stages of project design to develop bankable projects focused on capital-intensive energy efficiency and decarbonisation measures.
Based on testing in a portfolio of pilot projects, a national accelerator tailored to local market and regulatory conditions will be created in each of the nine partner countries. In the Czech Republic, SEVEn, a partner in the project, will focus on the use of private financing for energy performance contracting (EPC) projects in combination with subsidies for comprehensive building renovations.
The use of private capital and structured cooperation between public authorities and financial institutions are essential for achieving energy-transition goals and accelerating investment in the renovation of public buildings.
Hana Gerbelová, hana.gerbelova@svn.cz
