European City Facility announces new calls: 209 grants of €60.000 to open for cities pursuing investments in clean energy

A further three calls offering local governments and their affiliated entities a total of 209 grants of €60.000 to develop investment concepts on clean energy and energy efficiency will be offered by the European City Facility. The opportunity is funded by the EU through its European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA).   

The first call for cities to benefit is expected to be opened in April 2023 and will be announced first through the ‘Call Alert’ interested cities can register for on the project’s website.   

Anke Mollers, Coordinator for Energy Cities, explains: 

“The EUCF has proven to be an easy-to-access facility supporting cities in reaching their climate targets. The support provided gives cities the financial resources and expertise they need to develop convincing concepts for their sustainable energy investments. By doubling the number of supported cities to more than 400, momentum for additional energy savings and more renewables is immense.” 

The continuation of the European City Facility follows four successful calls in which a total of 213 cities received support for developing investment concepts seeking beyond €320 million in public and private financing for climate and energy actions.   

Managing the future calls of the European City Facility are five partners continuing their efforts from the first four calls; Energy Cities, Adelphi, Climate Alliance, Enviros and FEDARENE, and two new additions, ICLEI Europe and GNE Finance. In addition to these European partners, an expanded national support network is being established in the 27 EU Member States, Ukraine, and Iceland.  

In addition to the continued calls, the European City Facility will also offer capacity building on the financing of clean energy and energy efficiency projects to the local governments chosen, and work with the best cases to share their experience with other European Cities seeking to bridge the current gap between local ambitions and available finance. 

The new calls will be offered under the LIFE programme, the EU’s funding instrument for the environment and climate action.