11.03.2022
Region of Flanders (BE) pilots innovative financing solutions
Recently, three financing solutions for ambitious local climate objectives were tested in several municipalities in the region of Flanders (BE), Climate Alliance member Ghent being one of them. The solutions focused on three sectors, renovation of private buildings, energy-efficiency investments for SMEs and renovation of public buildings, and included:
- A long-term loan that gives local authorities access to a personal loan for energy renovation of individual private homes and ancillary investments. A high loan amount (up to €50,000) allows for deep renovation investments and also provides the benefits of a longer loan period of (up to 20 years).
- The grouping of buildings into a large portfolio in order to enable energy savings for companies as well and thus reduce the relative transaction cost as well as the performance risk, which in turn benefited the bankability of the investment project.
- Identification of initiatives that can help local authorities to make public buildings climate neutral. Many local authorities indicate that available human resources are not aligned towards conducting this strategic real estate planning approach. These initiatives include: centralized tenders for supporting advisory services, one-stop-shops providing access to contractors (e.g. EPC contracts), and improved EPC contracts.
These solutions were developed and tested in the framework of the Climate Alliance project FALCO (Financing Ambitious Local Climate Objectives). The project has just ended and managed to mobilise a total investment portfolio of about €18 million with a budget of €1.7 million.
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