ELENA — European Local Energy Assistance

Objective

ELENA (European Local Energy Assistance) is a technical-assistance facility, jointly funded by the LIFE Programme and Horizon Europe and administered by the European Investment Bank. It funds the project-development work — feasibility, audits, business plans, legal and procurement support, tendering — that local and regional authorities (and private project promoters) need to bring large sustainable-energy or sustainable-transport investment programmes to market. ELENA does not fund the underlying investments themselves; those are financed through EIB loans, commercial loans, energy-service contracts, or other capital sources.

Eligible activities

ELENA technical assistance supports investment programmes in:

• Energy efficiency in buildings (public, residential, commercial) and industrial processes
• Renewable energy production and integration
• Sustainable urban transport — fleet renewal, charging infrastructure, modal shift schemes
• Innovative residential financing schemes (energy-efficient housing, ESCO models, on-bill financing)
• Heating and cooling networks
• Combined investment programmes covering multiple of the above

ELENA covers up to 90% of project-development costs. To qualify, applicants must commit to a minimum leverage ratio of 1:10 between the technical-assistance grant and the resulting investment programme — meaning a typical underlying investment programme of €30 million or more. Smaller projects can apply at a 1:6 leverage ratio.

Application and timing

Applications are continuously open — no fixed deadlines. The EIB ELENA team assesses applications on a rolling basis with a quarterly cycle. Submission is through direct contact with the EIB ELENA team rather than via the EU Funding & Tenders Portal.

What this means for cities and regions

For cities and regions with a credible sustainable-energy or sustainable-transport investment pipeline but lacking the in-house capacity to develop it to bankable stage, ELENA is the central EIB instrument. Typical applicants are medium and large cities, regional energy agencies, public utilities and public transport operators. Less suitable for very small municipalities (the EIB generally expects an investment programme of around €30 million or more, and ELENA covers up to 90% of the project-development costs). Best paired with an EIB framework loan or an InvestEU-backed financing facility for the investments themselves.