Energy Efficiency is at the top of European and Global discussions these days. Alongside the COP21 Paris on Climate Change where regardless the domain it turns out to be the most important issue towards sustainability, a dedicated HORIZON2020 Info Day on the upcoming 2016 Call for Proposals has been held in Brussels last 8th December.
Based on the results of 2014-2015 round of call for proposals, the projects on Energy Efficiency revealed to be good on average. However, due to the fierce competition among a large number of applicants, only 10% of proposals received were granted.
Considering this, which actions should you envisage in your project proposal and what should you address to standout?
The Energy Union Framework Strategy created a new momentum to bring about the transition to a low-carbon, secure and competitive economy. As a result, the European Union is on track to reach key turning-points by 2030 that is less 40% of greenhouse gas emissions; more 27% of renewable energy; more 27% of energy efficiency.
Actions aimed at delivering Energy Efficiency should start from this framework and should bear in mind clearly that the biggest challenge nowadays is not the amount of money rather how to drain financial resources down on the ground of real needs and how to stimulate aggregate demand to come up to the level.
Project proposals are required to display innovative and alternative ways to reduce the untapped gap aforementioned. A greater attention has to be focused on 3 relevant dimensions that are expected to boost the delivery of Energy Efficiency message and to strategically close the loop from the top to the bottom and vice-versa.
- Involve local authorities. Facilitating policy implementation requires support policy enabling actions and capacity building of institutions and organizations in Member States at all levels: local, regional and national. Since the first step to energy efficiency happens in the locality, the role of local actors for real benefits of citizens is of highly relevance (watch: Engaging and activating public authorities);
- Engage individuals and consumers. Vast majority of buildings (around 75%) in Europe are privately-owned residences, therefore another crucial action is to ensure consumers taking informed decisions and their engagement in the whole process by providing neutral advice on new technologies (watch: Engaging private consumers)
- Ensure the attainment of a circular economy. The reduction of wasted energy in the cold and heat chain is pivotal and plans for the minimization of excesses in industries and municipalities are envisaged (watch: H2020 Energy Efficiency 2016 – Overview).
Most of the energy-related funding has been grouped under Secure, clean and efficient energy topic of Horizon2020’s 3rd Pillar of Societal Challenges with an overall budget for 2016 of 93,00 M€. Next deadline for Research and Innovation Action (RIA) and Innovation Action (IA) is on 21 January 2016, while for Coordination and Support Action (CSA) is scheduled for 15 September 2016. The Info Day drew the attention of attendees on European Commission’s priorities and objectives under CSA type of action. Going in detail, the EC will financially support those projects that: a) facilitate policy implementation and building capacity of relevant energy actors (authorities and consumers); b) renovate existing buildings and reduce designing and construction costs of new buildings (read more: Deep renovation of buildings and Cost reduction of new NZEB); c) realize initiatives for building up shared skills in the construction sector (read more: Construction skills); d) lead market survey to check the compliance of products and materials with EU legislation in energy efficiency; e) stimulate innovative ways of financing to make investments more attractive for investors and financiers (read more: Finance brokerage event & networking session).
Innovative SMEs or larger industries developing sustainable energy solutions can apply also for SME-Instrument and Fast Track Innovation to Pilot, with respectively 46M€ and 14M€ for 2016.
After this brief overview on the financing opportunities in the energy efficiency field, the following step is to get hands-on the preparation of the proposal. What an excellent proposal should include and pay attention at? (Discover some tips on: How to prepare a good proposal).
To be positively evaluated, your proposal should be challenge-based. It has to showcase an upstream innovation process from research up to the market. For Societal Challenges, the starting Technology Readiness Level could range between TRL4 – doing research – up to TRL9 – overcoming barriers that impede the market uptake.
Going ahead your proposal has to clearly announce the objectives, which have to demonstrate pertinence and coherence throughout the entire project and with the work packages displayed during the implementation. Furthermore, it has to explain the outputs aimed and make sure they would contribute to each of the expected impacts mentioned under the relevant topic.
Finally, it has to ensure quality of the proposed measures for the exploitation and dissemination of the project results as well as to guarantee appropriateness of the allocation of resources and tasks among participants. Last but not least, you should build up a consortium that best fits your purpose!
To design a roadmap to EU energy efficiency financing that best tailors your idea and to receive practical tips on how to write and present an excellent project, do not hesitate to count on our experience. Contact us!
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