General overview

The eeef set up its Technical Assistance (TA) Facility to support public beneficiaries across Europe in developing bankable sustainable energy investment programmes within the energy efficiency sector, small-scale renewable energy and/or public urban transport.

Since its inception, twelve public authorities joined the TA programme from Spain, Italy, Lithuania, and Latvia to realise their energy upgrade programmes (ca. two years timeframe). This work was facilitated through the contributions from eeef and EIB’s - European Local Energy Assistance (ELENA) under the Horizon Programme 2020.

In October 2023, eeef and EIB’s ELENA Facility signed a new ELENA Contract - a collaboration agreement of up to EUR 1.9m, to support the eeef TA facility’s project development services (PDS) for a timeframe of three years (2023 – 2026). eeef is eager to continue supporting ambitious and innovative projects in the energy field, i.e., by upgrading and modernizing public buildings and street lighting, promoting sustainable digital solutions, developing energy communities, and biomass district heating, among other energy-related activities) and further support the EU energy and climate targets (i.e., the TA projects threshold is a minimum of 30% reduction in primary energy savings or/and CO2 emissions reduction).

Supported services include the following:

(i) preparation of technical studies, i.e., investment grade energy audits, feasibility studies and/or validation,

(ii) evaluation of the economic viability of the investment, i.e., financial calculations as a basis for the economic proposal of ESCO tenders,

(iii) preparation and structuring of the tender documents to align with the PPP / ESCO model, i.e., tender documents containing technical and financial components; and

(iv) external advisors and legal analysis, i.e., to assist the public authority during the evaluation phase, etc.

These services will facilitate the public authority to reach the required renovation and energy levels to meet local and national strategic objectives in the energy sector and contribute towards carbon neutrality by 2050 through replicability.

Eligible costs for each eeef TA programme should be in accordance with the project’s ambition/ capacity and relevant to the country’s market prices where the project will be implemented.

With no deadline, the call for proposals for the eeef TA Facility remains open to receive further TA project proposals on a first come, first served basis. eeef encourages public authorities in Europe to join the Fund’s TA Programme. eeef is accepting future applications. Please visit: www.eeef.eu/eeef-ta-facility.html

Awarded eeef TA beneficiaries

Public authority Country Description Documents
Barcelona Metropolitan Area Spain EE - Public lighting/ building retrofit, RE Download PDF
University of Oviedo Spain EE - Building retrofit/ digitalization programs, RE Download PDF
City of Sestao Spain EE - Public lighting/ building retrofit, mobility and digitalization programs, RE Download PDF
Daugavpils City Municipality Latvia EE - Public lighting Download PDF
Municipality of Gijón Spain EE - Public lighting / building retrofit, RE Download PDF
Ferrara Province via SIPRO Italy EE - Public lighting / building retrofit Download PDF
Ministry of Defense – Modena Ducal Palace Italy EE - Building retrofit Download PDF
Kaunas District Municipality Lithuania EE - Public lighting Download PDF
The Autonomous Province of Bolzano – Bozen Italy EE - Public buildings retrofit Download PDF
Ukmergė District Municipality Administration Lithuania EE - Public buildings retrofit Download PDF
Administration of Silute District Municipality Lithuania EE - Public buildings retrofit Download PDF
Klaipeda University Hospital Lithuania EE - Public buildings retrofit, RE Download PDF
How to apply as TA beneficiary

The main criteria TA application is summarised below:

Eligible applicants: Regions, City Councils, Universities, public hospitals and other public entities located in the Member States of the European Union

Sectors covered: energy efficiency, small-scale renewable energy and/or public urban transport

TA activities supported: feasibility studies, energy audits, evaluation of the economic viability of the investments and legal support

Support format: eeef is supporting the TA beneficiary by way of allocating consultant services to the planned investment programmes (for example for feasibility studies, energy audits and evaluating the economic viability of investments). It also covers direct staff costs of the TA beneficiaries and external legal service costs required. 

Project investment volume: >€5m

Leverage factor for Technical Assistance: >20

Savings of at least 30%: Primary energy & CO2 equivalents

eeef TA Manager: DWS Investment S.A., Ms Lada Strelnikova (lada.strelnikova@dws.com) and eeef TA consultant Ms. Karin Rosales (krosales@eeef.lu).

How to apply: applicants are asked to provide their proposals by following the application format - which can be found in the TA download section below - as a basis for their application and send fully-fledged proposals to the following email address: technical_assistance@eeef.eu

Submission deadline for proposals: no deadline, open on a first-come-first-serve basis, subject to availability of funds and the Fund’s appetite for proposed sector/technology etc.

Evaluation and selection criteria: the general conditions for awarding TA support can be found in the table below, mainly four criteria to be applied to the proposals:

Criteria Max points
1. Investment Programme
  • Realisation potential of proposed project / technology / sector clearly presented
  • Project size (volume of funding required)
  • Indicative impact and savings potential
  • Intended procurement procedure and capacity to procure ESCO contract
35
2. TA required for the Investment Programme
  • TA requirements clearly outlined
  • Amount of TA funding requested and leverage factor
  • Implementation timeline TA (GANTT chart)
  • Awareness of potential implementation pitfalls
30
3. Commitment to implement the Investment Programme
  • At least one person is committed from the public authority to work on the project
  • Implementation timeline proposal is realistic
  • Modus operandi with advisory team is clearly presented
20
4. Proposal clarity
  • Concept and methodology
  • Quality of TA application
15
Total points 100

 

Awarding process: The TA beneficiary will be informed by the eeef team in writing within 20 days after submission. In the event of TA support awarded by eeef, a TA contract (standard example provided at the TA download section of the website) detailing the eeef support and conditions will be sent to the potential TA beneficiary to formalise the obligations of the parties. It is envisaged to sign the TA contract with the TA beneficiary 15 days after the awarding notice was sent to the TA beneficiary.

Investment programme realisation: After awarding the TA support to the winning applicant/s and signing the TA contracts, each TA beneficiary has to complete the agreed TA work scope within a two year timeframe, including selecting the company/companies to carry out the investment programme’s implementation works. This assumes that the TA beneficiary is required to publish a tender for the project implementation works within this time.

Information for consultants

Information for consultants to provide consultant services to TA beneficiaries

eeef provides TA support through consultancy services to support and accelerate the preparation of investment programmes in energy efficiency, renewable energy production, or public transportation.

eeef as TA contractor launches a call for proposals to search for the right consultants/consortium with the required know-how and expertise to provide legal, technical, and financial advice to TA beneficiaries (public authorities). The consultants should carry out, among other tasks, technical studies (i.e., feasibility studies, energy audits), economic and financial analysis, and prepare the tender documents for the implementation of the investment plan through an ESCO/PPP model contract. Also, to assist the Public Authority during the evaluation phase of the bidder offers and legal advice until the signing of the ESCO contract.

The consultants can work with 2-3 beneficiaries in parallel according to the working programmes to be agreed with eeef and beneficiary in advance, need to have experience in dealing with the PPP structures and respective public authorities, as well as be fluent in the authority’s language, among others. Exact requirements will be included in the Terms of Reference (ToR) under the Download section. Please follow us also on LinkedIn to hear about new ToRs in progress.

eeef uses the following procurement procedures for all consultants: i) eeef organizes a restricted1 call for proposals when TA costs are below €200,000 and invites 2 to 4 companies for proposals, and ii) eeef publishes an open call for proposals on the Fund’s website (www.eeef.eu/downloads-ta.html) as well as on TED (Supplement to the Official Journal of the European Union – Tenders Electronic Daily), when is above €200,000. Call for proposals for consultancy services for all new projects will be launched on the eeef website and TED or will be sent out proposal requests.

Regarding the evaluation and selection criteria, the Fund’s TA Facility team will conduct a deep assessment to select the best advisor(s) for the particular consultancy services: i.e., review the advisor(s) eligibility, alignment with ToR guidelines, and the overall portfolio fit. The main criteria are as follows:

Criteria max points %
1. Scope of work 35
  • Understanding of the scope of work and methodology
10
  • Company’s organization and workflow management
20
  • Technical resources
5
2. Team members 65
  • PPP experience
15
  • Management team experience
15
  • Energy experts (i.e., engineers) experience
10
  • Financial advisors’ experience
10
  • Legal expert experience
10
  • Support team/staff experience
5

Total points

100

More information can be found under the FAQ section.

1 Restricted procedure: Anyone may ask to participate in a restricted procedure, but only those who are pre-selected may submit tenders. European Union Website. Public Tendereing Rules at: https://europa.eu/youreurope/business/selling-in-eu/public-contracts/public-tendering-rules/index_en.htm

Downloads