Province of Ferrara is the second public authority joining eeef to collaborate on the new eeef Technical Assistance Facility

Ferrara Province (Italy) is the second public authority that will join the City of Gijon to participate in the new Technical Assistance Facility of the Fund. The eeef Technical Assistance (TA) Facility has also received funding from the ELENA Facility under Horizon 2020 Programme of the European Union and is assisting public authorities to prepare feasibility studies, energy audits, evaluate the economic viability of investments and launch the tender process.

Joining forces with SIPRO Agenzia Provinciale per lo Sviluppo - a development agency with a 40-year track record - the approx. €15m investment programme of the Province of Ferrara addresses the implementation of energy efficiency measures in several municipalities to prevent high energy consumption and heat loss going forward. The Province of Ferrara has in total 24 municipalities; 22 have adopted Sustainable Energy Action Plans (SEAP) but are in need for support to boost the implementation of their projects. Municipalities directly involved in this TA project are Ferrara, Cento, Argenta, Bondeno, Mesola, Copparo and Voghiera leading the way to encourage further public authorities to pursue their green investment paths.

The investment programme includes deep energy retrofitting measures (in 13 buildings such as schools, offices, town halls and sport facilities) and the replacement of 27,000 public lighting points to LED technology in the Cities of Ferrara and Voghiera. The tender for a LED replacement is planned to be launched by the end of 2017.

SIPRO as the TA beneficiary will coordinate and manage the whole development phase of the involved municipalities and collaborate closely with the consultant team assigned by eeef to perform the TA works. Clustering a number of municipalities in one mutual project will open the way for valuable synergies and optimise the implementation rate of the projects.

eeef is welcoming other European public authorities to follow suit the case studies of Gijón and the Province of Ferrara in launching comparable projects – the new eeef Technical Assistance is available for further applications. Please visit: http://www.eeef.eu/eeef-ta-facility.html

Located in Emilia Romagna Region, the Province of Ferrara has 354,000 inhabitants living in 24 municipalities. The Province’s partner in this project is SIPRO, a development agency with a 40 year track-record deeply rooted in the Province of Ferrara and experienced in the promotion of local development, in particular with focus on i) sustainable development; ii) external investment attraction; and iii) identification of incentives and financing instruments. 

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.