Low-carbon investment funding: Piemonte region

Piemonte Region triggers huge investments for energy efficiency 

A relevant amount of financial resources have been mobilized to promote energy efficiency and renewables production in public bodies and private companies. 

Piedmont Region is managing a relevant amount of ERDF resources aimed at supporting the shift towards a low-carbon economy in all sectors. Under that priority, it is envisaged to reduce primary energy consumption of public buildings and to spread innovation in the production systems, by using energy efficiency solutions and renewable energy sources. The budget allocation is 193 million euros, divided almost equally between public entities and companies.

Measures addressed to SMEs

As far as the SMEs allocation is concerned, the financial resources are used, partly as grants (20%) and partly as soft loans (80%). The supported measures are:

• high-efficiency cogeneration plants,
• increased energy efficiency of production processes and buildings,
• replacement of low efficiency systems and components with more efficient ones,
• installation of new high efficiency production lines,
• installation of plants for the production of energy from renewable sources.

Since the beginning of the supporting campaign in 2018, it is worth noting that about 90% of the fixed targets in terms of number of financed companies and CO2 emissions savings have been achieved.

 

Measures addressed to Public Authorities

The promotion of eco-efficiency in public buildings was implemented through five calls, which financed at least the 80% of the value proposed (adding a further 10% as a reward in the case of transformation in Nearly zero energy buildings), in support of interventions in the following sectors:

• health-hospital area,
• real estate assets of the Piedmont Region,
• building stock of local authorities,
• social housing,
• renovation of street lighting systems.

 

The interventions allow buildings (mainly schools, municipal offices, sports facilities) and lighting systems reduction in energy requirements ranging from 20% to 80%, in relation to the different areas of intervention, with significant reductions in terms of costs and CO2 emissions.

 

The investments, so far funded, allow to achieve about 4.5 MW of additional capacity for renewable energy production, 40 GWh of primary energy savings and 8 kton of CO2 emissions reduction. This is a good share of the planned targets, that are going to be reached before the end of the programming period.

 

Cooperation with private stakeholders

Back to back with the management of regional structural funds, several initiatives promoting Public Private partnership have been launched with the aim at mobilizing private investments by using Energy Performance Contracts (EPC). Such contracts have been implemented in several different projects in the last few years in Piemonte Region. Some of the most outstanding examples have been coordinated and promoted by the Region itself in the framework of EU projects. All the initiatives have in common the bundling and pooling approach as a way to achieve economy of scales and put on the market a pipeline of investments that can be fairly accepted by ESCOs.  Totally, actions for 8 M€ of energy efficiency investments with EPC for public buildings and street lighting refurbishment have been launched.

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