The Promoeener project encouraged municipalities and local councils to set up energy efficiency measures while using renewable sources of power in order to save on electricity costs and cut greenhouse gas emissions. The project focused on getting public administrations to use technologies harnessing local, natural resources such as geothermal, solar and biomass energies.
- 29 January 2016
Promoeener has allowed for the bundling of energy investments by neighbouring municipalities in order to introduce EPC solutions in small towns which cannot afford Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy System investments with their own funding. This innovative investment model is going to be replicated all over the region, and an investment plan of nearly EUR 50 million has already been agreed for 2015-2018.
To promote renewables and energy efficiency, the project partners analysed energy usage in more than 50 municipalities and 150 local government buildings in southern Spain and Portugal. They also examined the details of more than 2 000 energy contracts to see where savings could be made. The work identified about EUR 20 million worth of investment opportunities for the alternative energy market. All this information was made available to energy providers in order to stimulate their interest in developing new business.
The project team is confident that its efforts can offer public administrations future energy savings in the order of 1 500 MWh/year; the generation of 400 MWh/year through renewables; and an annual reduction of CO2 emissions of about 900 tons.
Capacity building with SMEs
Promoeener has also taken steps to ensure that private sector companies are in a position to meet increases in demand for energy efficiency measures and renewable energy from the public sector. Around 1 000 employees from local companies were trained directly in new energy technologies.
In addition, the project partners produced guides and technical documents to support SMEs as they venture into the alternative energy market. The objective was to ensure that local firms make the most of the green energy revolution and thereby generate more employment.
Promoting energy investment
Public budget restrictions meant it was necessary for the project team to develop innovative tools to boost energy investment. Promoeener therefore promoted the use of Energy Performance Contracts (EPCs) which bring together public and private sources of finance. The process also allows for ‘investment bundling’, whereby a number of energy projects can be financed together. On their own, such projects might be too small and risky to attract funding. The long-term objective is to achieve a EUR 10 million investment through the EPC mechanism – from an initial project outlay of EUR 1 million.
Total investment and EU funding
Total investment for the project “Promoeener – Promoting EE and RES in Public Administrations” is EUR 3 052 029, of which the EU’s European Regional Development Fund is contributing EUR 2 289 022 from the Operational Programme “Interreg V-A Spain-Portugal (POCTEP)” for the 2007 to 2013 programming period. Work falls under the priority “Sustainable Growth”.