The European Commission has provided €35 million ($42 million) in new funding to the European Local Energy Assistance (ELENA), a joint initiative with the European Investment Bank (EIB) that provides project development assistance and expertise for public and private stakeholders.
The funding will support projects within ELENA’s sustainable energy and sustainable transport portfolios. According to EIB, this will stimulate investments in energy efficiency, especially in buildings, heat networks, street lighting and clean urban transport.
“Accelerating energy efficiency investments in all sectors is crucial, if we want to reduce carbon emissions and mitigate climate change,” said Thomas Ostros, vice president in charge of energy at EIB. “Over the past 11 years, ELENA has shown that sound technical support is important for investment mobilization and project implementation.”
The ELENA facility was launched in 2009 and has supported some 120 projects sin