The European Union (EU) provides diverse financing instruments in favour of sustainable energy. Some might even say that too many instruments exist and that they miss track. Similarly, different sources of information exist, targetting different categories of actors.
Fair enough, here is a rapid overview of the available sources of EU funding: EU Solidarity Fund European Bank for Reconstruction and Development; European Investment Bank; European Investment Fund; EU funding programmes.
Among the EU funding programmes, the following ones are of particular relevance for sustainable energy (which does not mean that I suceeded in being exhaustive!):
- Structural and Cohesion Fund
- European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development -(EAFRD)
- European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)
- Intelligent Energy Europe (IEE) II (2007-2013) as part of the Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (CIP) and incorporating SAVE, ALTENER and STEER
- Marco Polo II Programme
- Eco-Innovation, also part of CIP
- LIFE+ (2007-2013)
- Trans-European Networks
- Seventh Framework Programme for R&D (FP7) (2007-2013)
- Central Europe Programme
- Central European Initiative (CEI) Special Fund for Climate and Environment Protection.
The Executive Agency for Competitiveness and Innovation is mananing some of these programmes (IEE, Eco-Innovation, Marco Polo in particular). A general listing and overview of these programmes is given by C. Fräss-Ehrlefd in her book entitled Renewable Energy Sources, (Kluwer, 2009) Chapters 4 and 5.
Now, focusing on the nature of the actions supported by the EU, we should look at the content of two programmes: the IEE guidelines for the 2010 Call for Proposals; and the FP 2007-2013.
The IEE II programme focuses on the following three main themes: (1) to foster energy efficiency and the rational use of energy resources"; (2) to promote new and renewable energy sources and to support energy diversification; (3) to promote energy efficiency and the use of new and renewable energy sources in transport.
The programme leaves a large space to the financing of actions aiming at implementing EU energy-specific legislation, i.e. all policies or secondary legislation in the matter of sustainable energy, including Renewable Energy Directive 2009/28/EC or Ecodesign Directive 2005/32. In 2010, actions in the following fields will be financed: energy-efficient buildings, consumer behaviour, integration of RES into the grid and the market (including streamlining of authorisation and connection procedures), RES in buildings (e.g., for the deployment of biomass, geothermal, thermal and PV solar energy systems for heating, cooling and electricity in energy efficient buildings), bringin bio-energy sources onto the market, energy in transport.
In the matter of R&D, the list is extensive. Just have a look at the available list of financed projects under FP7 to get inspired! Here is an overview of some of the recent projects supported:
- bioethanol production (e.g. from paper fibres separated from solid waste, biorefineries);
- PV systems;
- oceans demonstration of innovative full size systems (e.g., prototype tidal stream generator);
- diagnostics, surveillance, maintenance and control of power transmission and grid connection;
- electricity grid (wind-grid integration, pan-European grid, ;
- standardisation;
- innovative capture techniques (e.g., oxygen and hydrogen separation);
- energy storage (e.g., electricity, hydrogen);
- innovative concepts of fuel cells;
- biowaste;
- industrial applications of energy efficiency and renewable energy;
- etc.
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