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Grant Analysis

Purpose & Target

Project Development Assistance (PDA) offers technical assistance to convert sustainable energy project ideas into actual investments. - Primary Objective: To support public and private project developers in every step of the way to deliver sustainable energy investments of ambition and scale. - Target Recipient Type: Public and private project promoters, including public authorities, infrastructure operators, energy agencies, energy service companies, retail chains, large property owners, service providers, and industries (including SMEs and industrial clusters). - Designated Focus: SECTOR-SPECIFIC, primarily focusing on sustainable energy, energy efficiency, and renewable energy projects. - Geographic Scope: EU Member States, overseas countries/territories linked to them, and associated third countries. - Key Filtering Criteria: Organizations aiming to launch significant sustainable energy investments, seeking technical assistance for project development, and demonstrating high ambition in decarbonisation and private capital mobilization. - Grant Frequency: Part of the recurring annual LIFE Clean Energy Transition (CET) call. - Program Context: Part of the LIFE Programme, specifically under the Clean Energy Transition sub-programme.

Financial Structure

Funding Type: Technical Assistance Project (LIFE Project Grants).
Recommended EU Contribution: A range of EUR 1 million to EUR 1.5 million per project is considered appropriate, though other amounts are not precluded.
Maximum Funding Rate: 95% of eligible costs for Other Action Grants (OAGs), which this PDA call falls under.
Investment Leverage: Projects must achieve a minimum leverage factor of 15 times the EU support for sustainable energy investments, or 10 times for investments exclusively in residential buildings.
Eligible Activities: Activities that can be funded include project bundling, technical studies, energy audits, assessing financing options, legal advice, tendering procedure preparation, outreach, and engagement.
Financial Compliance: Financial rules are governed by the EU Financial Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509.
Audit: Projects with cumulative financing from different Union programmes will be audited once, covering all involved programmes.

Eligibility Requirements

Eligible Organization Types

Public project promoters: Includes public authorities or their groupings.
Private project promoters: Includes public/private infrastructure operators and bodies, energy agencies, energy service companies, retail chains, large property owners, service providers, and industrial entities.
Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs): Explicitly mentioned as a target for industrial clusters.

Geographic Eligibility

Legal entities established in any EU Member State.
Legal entities established in an overseas country or territory linked to an EU Member State.
Legal entities established in a third country associated with the LIFE Programme (e.g., members of the European Free Trade Association which are members of the EEA, acceding countries, candidate countries, potential candidates, European Neighbourhood Policy countries, and other third countries if specified in the multiannual work programme).
Activities outside eligible countries/territories are possible if necessary for the effectiveness of interventions carried out in an eligible country or to support international agreements.

Submission Structure

Proposals may be submitted by a single applicant.
Proposals may be submitted by applicants from a single eligible country.

Application Process

Submission Platform: Proposals must be submitted via the Funding & Tenders Portal's Electronic Submission Service.
Authentication: Applicants require an EU Login account. Note that SMS authentication is no longer possible; users must set up a more secure alternative via 'My Account'.
Draft Proposals: Existing draft proposals can be accessed through the 'My Proposals' page within the 'My Area' section of the Funding & Tenders Portal.

Submission Timeline

Call Opening Date: 2025-04-24
Submission Deadline: 2025-09-23 at 00:00:00+00 (Brussels time).
Evaluation and Grant Agreement Timeline: The indicative timeline is described in section 4 of the call document (details not provided in current source).

Required Documentation

Call document for LIFE-2025-CET.
Specific Application Forms: Standard application form (LIFE SAP and OAG), available in the Submission System.
Detailed Budget Table (LIFE).
Participant Information (LIFE).
Table of Investments (LIFE OAG CSA PDA).
Admissibility conditions (e.g., proposal page limit and layout) are described in section 5 of the call document and Part B of the Application Form.

Application Assistance

National Contact Points (NCPs): Support is available from national contact points.
Online Resources: The Funding & Tenders Portal provides FAQs, an Online Manual (step-by-step guide), IT Helpdesk support, and recordings/presentations from info sessions.

Evaluation Criteria

Impact Assessment

Results Contribution: Proposals must present concrete results and demonstrate how they contribute to topic-specific impacts, including a detailed analysis of the starting point, well-substantiated assumptions, and clear causality links.
Investment Launch: Requirement for the actual launch of an energy efficiency and/or renewable energy investment program.
Financial Leverage: Demonstrate a leverage factor of at least EUR 15 million of investments in sustainable energy for every EUR 1 million of EU support (or EUR 10 million for residential buildings investments).
Evidence: Planning and indication of signed work or investment contracts, or similar convincing proof, to be submitted during the project duration.
Capacity Increase: Contribution to increased skills and capacity to deliver further sustainable energy investments.
Quantification: Quantification of results and impacts using provided indicators and specific indicators for proposed activities, both for the end of the project and for 5 years after.

Quality and Ambition

Innovation Showcase: Demonstrate a clear showcase dimension in delivering innovative solutions for accelerating sustainable energy investments across Europe.
High Ambition: Aim for high ambition levels, particularly concerning energy savings and decarbonisation (e.g., deep renovation, nearly zero-energy buildings (nZEB), zero-emission buildings (ZEB), building-integrated renewables, positive energy buildings/districts, highly energy-efficient infrastructure).
Needs Identification: Specify needs to be addressed, including related market/barrier analysis.
Strategic Approach: Detail financial and organisational approaches/options to be operationalised and engagement of key stakeholders.

Strategic Fit and Synergies

Co-benefits and Synergies: Projects providing co-benefits and promoting synergies between LIFE sub-programmes will receive a bonus.
Replication and Uptake: Projects with the highest potential for replication and uptake by the public or private sector, or for mobilising the largest investments, will receive a bonus.
Building on Past Projects: Projects that build on or upscale the results of other projects funded by the LIFE Programme, its predecessors, or other Union funds, will receive a bonus.

Cost-Effectiveness

Approach: Projects are expected to ensure a cost-effective approach.
Coherence: Projects must be technically and financially coherent.

Geographical Coverage

Specific Needs: Special attention is given to projects in geographical areas with specific needs or vulnerabilities (e.g., environmental challenges, natural constraints, trans-border areas, areas of high natural value, outermost regions).

Compliance & Special Requirements

Regulatory and Policy Alignment

Objective Alignment: Actions must implement the general and specific objectives of the LIFE Programme as outlined in Regulation (EU) 2021/783, contributing to a sustainable, circular, energy-efficient, renewable energy-based, climate-neutral and resilient economy.
EU Policy Compliance: Projects must align with and contribute to EU energy and climate targets, the European Green Deal goals, and the REPowerEU plan.
'Do No Harm' Principle: Actions under the LIFE Programme must respect the 'do no harm' principle to environmental objectives.

Financial and Legal Compliance

Financial Regulation: Compliance with the EU Financial Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509, which sets out general financial rules for the EU budget.
Financial and Operational Capacity: Applicants must demonstrate sufficient financial and operational capacity, as described in section 7 of the call document (not provided in detail).
Exclusion Criteria: Applicants must not be in any exclusion situations as per financial regulations (section 7 of call document).
Audit and Access: Recipients of Union funds must grant the necessary rights and access for investigations by the responsible authorising officer, OLAF (European Anti-Fraud Office), and the Court of Auditors.

Project Specific Compliance

Investment Launch: A key requirement is that the project must lead to the actual launch of sustainable energy investments within its duration.
High Ambition: Proposals should aim for high ambition levels in terms of energy savings and decarbonisation, focusing on advanced efficiency standards.

Special Considerations

Mobilisation of Private Capital: The grant actively seeks to maximize the mobilization of private capital, using public funds as a catalyst.
Integrated Investment Concepts: Projects can build upon investment concepts developed under initiatives like the European City Facility (EUCF) or other LIFE CET support mechanisms.
Sectoral Focus: Projects should target specific sectors including buildings (residential and non-residential), district heating/cooling networks, public infrastructure (e.g., water/wastewater, lighting), industry (including SMEs and industrial clusters), renewables (e.g., energy communities), and clean urban mobility solutions.
Organisational and Financial Innovation: The call encourages innovative organizational structures (e.g., one-stop-shops, bundling approaches) and financial engineering solutions (e.g., blending public/private finance, community financing).

Grant Details