Completing a full circle on Portugal’s largest aggregated street lighting infrastructure upgrade in Alentejo Central, including the UNESCO world heritage site of Évora

Alentejo, Portugal

In 2018, the eeef implemented a tailor-made financing facility of €12m to support the renovation of street lighting infrastructure across Alentejo Central Region, including the UNESCO World Heritage site of Évora.

The project came to fruition due to the support of European Commission’s technical assistance facility managed by the eeef. The assistance was instrumental in the feasibility study and in aggregating numerous smaller projects across 14 municipalities into a single sizeable project requiring over €15m in upfront investment works and financing.

Amener, I-Sete and eeef joined forces in a collaborative approach to structure the financing and seamlessly manage renovation work for ca. 56,000 street lighting luminaries across numerous locations within 12 months implementation despite setbacks during COVID-19 restrictions.

In terms of tangible outcomes, the luminaries realized annually savings of 78% in primary energy consumption (PEC) and in CO₂ emissions compared to their respective baselines. This translates to accumulated savings of 234,476 MWh in PEC and 27,401 tCO2e emission till date. Furthermore, assuming the further life span of luminaries until September 2031, the saving these luminaries will continue to deliver savings estimated at ca. 553,245 MWh in PEC and ca. 55,088 tCO2e emission. Last but not the least, these works also generate budgetary savings to the 14 underlying municipalities represented by Comunidade Intermunicipal do Alentejo Central (CIMAC*). These savings are estimated to add up to ca. € 7.1 million until September 2031.

The closing of this facility will also mark successful completion of a full circle of support from the eeef: from conducting feasibility studies and preparation of the investment project to technical implementation, financing and repayment. Starting April 2024, in accordance with existing agreements with eeef, the project will benefit from a refinancing option provided by the local bank and facilitated by the operational stability and predictable cash flows.

(*) CIMAC is an inter-municipal community constituted in 2009 in the Central Alentejo region in Portugal and comprises of 14 municipalities: Alandroal, Arraiolos, Borba, Estremoz, Évora, Montemor-o-Novo, Mora, Mourão, Portela, Redondo, Reguengos de Monsaraz, Vendas Novas, Viana do Alentejo and Vila Viçosa.

The European Energy Efficiency Fund (eeef) S.A., SICAV-SIF is a "société d'investissement à capital variable" governed by Luxembourg law and initiated by the European Commission in cooperation with the European Investment Bank. eeef increased the initial capitalisation provided by the European Commission with contributions from the private investors. eeef is an innovative public-private partnership dedicated to mitigate climate change through energy efficiency measures and the use of renewable energy in the Member States of the European Union.