Enhancing energy efficiency in Lithuania: Šilutė District Municipality joins the eeef Technical Assistance Programme
Šilutė District Municipality is the third public authority from Lithuania that will join the Kaunas and Ukmerge District Municipalities to participate in the Technical Assistance (TA) programme of the Fund, thus expanding activities of the Fund to the Baltics - Eastern Europe.
Šilutė District Municipality belongs to one of the most intensively developing regions of the country. It is situated in the southern part of Klaipeda County, Lithuania near the Curonian (Kursių) Lagoon. It has a population of around 37 641 inhabitants and an area - 1706 km2. It is divided into 11 elderships (Gardamo, Juknaiciu, Katyciu, Kintu, Rusnes, Saugu, Silutes, Sveksnos, Usenu, Vainuto, Zemaiciu Naumiescio), 7 towns and 311 villages.
On 10 July 2020, the eeef signed a TA Contract with the Administration of Šilutė District Municipality. The objective of this TA is to prepare and implement an ambitious investment program to improve public buildings energy efficiency and ensure that they meet the national energy performance requirements. The Administration of Šilutė District Municipality seeks to modernise eleven (11) municipal public buildings: (i) Rusnes Culture House, (ii) Šilutė nursery "Azuoliukas", (iii) Šilutė Pamario Primary School, (iv) Šilutė nursery "Gintarelis", (v) Kintai Primary School, (vi) Saugai Jurgis Miksas Primary School, (vii) Šilutė District Municipality Sveksnos nursery, (viii) Usenai Primary School, (xi) Silute District Municipality building, (x) Šilutė Hospital and (xi) Vilkyciai School.
According to a preliminary assessment, the total investment needed to implement the public building modernisation investment programme in the Šilutė District Municipality is circa EUR 9.5m. This will facilitate Šilutė District Municipality to reach the required renovation and energy levels to contribute to the national strategic objectives in the field of energy efficiency. The TA services, provided by experienced local consultants, will support the efforts of the Administration's employees to prepare the investment project. Supported services include the preparation of 11 energy audits, evaluation of the economic viability of the investment, structuring of the tender documents to align with the PPP / ESCO model, external advisors (recommendations on the institutional set up of a PIU in the Administration) and legal analysis.
In the context of the TA Facility - funded by eeef in collaboration with the European Investment Bank ("EIB") – European Local Energy Assistance ('ELENA') TA Facility under the Horizon 2020 Programme of the European Union - the eeef is welcoming other European public authorities to join the eeef TA Facility, as it is available for further applications. Please visit: http://www.eeef.eu/eeef-ta-facility.html
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 sponsors European Investment Bank, Cassa Depositi e Prestiti as well as the investment manager Deutsche Bank. 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.