FIRECE - Innovative Financial Instruments for industry low carbon Energy transition in Central Europe.

In order to reach nationals targets for renewable energy shares of final energy consumption, CE regions have the common challenge to keep investing and even to accelerate the financing of concrete actions to deliver sustainable energy measures.

The main objective of FIRECE is to increase capacities of regional operator to manage Energy Plans particularly on the financial resources locally available to enhance the investments in renewable energy (RE)by Industry, especially SMEs.The focus is on setting up Innovative Financial Instruments (IFIs) that will act as a leverage of the public resources avilable (estimated 180 Meuro from OP ERDF 2014-2020 dedicated topics) by Regional Authorities in charge to manage EU funds(Managing Authorities-MA).

In parallel, a quality assessment criteria will assist operators and local actors to check and optimize use oF public resources addressed to investments on RE by the industrial sectors(manufacturing). The main project outputs are a transnational strategy to implement Financial schemes and assess investments by public resources for Industry, a strong exchange knowledge action addressed to regional operators with Training courses organized in 9 different regions, a methodology to support the exploitation

of financial common financial schemes identified and a tool on-line available to local actors for the quality assessment of the investments.

The project will implement 2 pilot actions in 9 different regions:6 regions will develop ex-ante analysis and following feasibilities study for IFIs to be included in current or new ERDF Programming period; 5 regions will test the tool to assess projects and investments supported by public resources in the frame of the Regional Energy Plans.A strong transferability action will assure dissemination of outputs and their sustainability.

The areas participating in the project vary greatly in their financial support to RE market, so FIRECE project approach would encourage mutual learning and cooperation.

The lead partner on the project is Camera di Commercio, Industria, Artigianato e Agricoltura di Venezia Rovigo Delta Lagunare from Venice (Italy), and other partenrs are a ostali partneri su: Netzwerk Energie & Umwelt e.V. (Germany), Regione Emilia - Romagna (Italy), Dél-Dunà¡ntàºli Regionà¡lis Innovà¡cià³s àœgynà¶kség Nonprofit Kft. (Hungary), Forschung Burgenland GmbH (Austria), Fraunhofer - Gesellschaft zur Fà¶rderung der angewandten Forschung e.V. (Germany), Agencja Rozwoju Regionalnego ARLEG SA w Legnicy (Poland), Wojewà³dztwo Lubelskie (Poland), ENVIROS, s.r.o. (Czech Republic) i IRENA - Istarska Regionalna ENergetska Agencija d.o.o. (Croatia).

The project has started in July 2017 and will end in June 2020.

The project budget is 1.872.633,00 €, while IRENA's budget amounts to 182.322,00 € from which 85% will be cofinanced from the Interreg Europe programme funds.