Scaling up Public Energy Efficiency Investments via Standardising Citizen Financing Schemes

Duration: 2019 - 2022 ● Client: European Commission (H2020) ● WIP Role: Project coordinator ● www.citizee.eu

CitizEE is a European funded project that supports European public authorities to scale up investments for energy efficiency in the building sector through attracting citizen private investments.

Energy efficiency is a decisive factor of the European Union’s energy policy as it is considered essential for competitiveness, energy security and to meet international goals on climate change. In the building sector, reaching the EU targets demands overcoming social, financial and technical barriers. Renovation of existing buildings can lead to significant energy savings and support the clean energy transition. However, to meet the objectives the sustainable energy financing models need to be reviewed and cooperation between all actors (such public authorities, financial institutions and project developers), especially with citizens, should be maximised. It is therefore essential to make a more effective use of public funding, mobilise innovative private financing and address specific barriers faced by energy citizens and communities’ projects wishing to invest in sustainable projects at a greater scale.

CitizEE will address these goals by means of creating national or regional Investment Platforms backed by European Fund for Strategic Investments that will support the integration of tailored and widely adopted citizen financing schemes, crowdfunding and cooperative models, with adequate available or to be developed Public Financing Instruments (PFIs). As a result, CitizEE will enable the set-up of large-scale community energy efficiency programs while strengthening know-how of regional/national key stakeholders.