European Local Energy Assistance (ELENA) will benefit from a new €97 million grant from the European Commission for residential buildings, according to a statement issued on Wednesday 20 February.
This budget will support project development services for energy-efficiency investments in privately and publicly owned housing.
The European Investment Bank (EIB), which implements ELENA, will provide assistance and expertise and act as a point of contact.
Services to assist with project development will mainly target households and homeowners' associations in order to increase comfort and reduce energy costs.
In addition, assistance may be made available to other organisations – e.g. financial institutions including commercial banks – to help them set up and deploy financial instruments and loan products for energy-efficiency improvements in the residential sector. Public entities may also be supported with the implementation of large-scale energy rehabilitation programmes in this sector.
EU Member States have agreed to reduce energy consumption by 32.5 % by 2030 as compared to 1990. This objective will require massive investments, particularly in residential buildings, which account for around 40% of the EU’s total final energy demand. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)