Project Development Assistance (PDA) offers technical assistance to convert sustainable energy project ideas into actual investments. It supports public and private project developers in every step of the way to deliver sustainable energy investments of ambition and scale.

Proposals for this topic can be submitted by public or private project promoters such as public authorities or their groupings, public/private nfrastructure operators and bodies, energy agencies, energy service companies, retail chains, large property owners, services or industry.

PDA projects must lead to the actual launch of sustainable energy investments within the project duration, demonstrating a leverage factor of at least 15 compared to the technical assistance grant (at least 10 for exclusive investments in residential buildings). In this context, proposals need to identify the initially envisaged investment pipeline.

Proposals could target sectors including:
Buildings

• Existing residential buildings, including the rental sector, social housing, or districtlevel renovation approaches.
• Existing non-residential buildings, such as public buildings, hospitals, academies, defence facilities or commercial buildings.

District heating/cooling networks

• Decarbonisation and modernisation of existing district heating/cooling networks, including the extension of existing networks provided that the extended networks are fully based on low-temperature renewable energy or waste heat.

Infrastructure

• Existing public infrastructure such as water/wastewater services or lighting.

Industry

• Industry, businesses and services, including SMEs or industrial clusters, clearly advancing beyond business-as-usual approaches.

Renewables

• Renewable energy production by energy communities and other citizen-led initiatives, clearly advancing beyond business-as-usual approaches.

Mobility

• Clean and energy efficient urban transport infrastructure.
• Low emission urban mobility solutions including conversion of urban areas for soft mobility or non-motorised transport.
• Integration of smart recharging infrastructures in buildings, including in multifamily buildings.

Proposals should demonstrate a clear showcase dimension in delivering innovative solutions for accelerating sustainable energy investments across Europe, as regards to:

• Organisational innovation regarding the mobilisation and/or structuring of the investment programme such as setting up facilitation structures, project development units, one-stop-shops, aggregation and bundling/pooling approaches, or efficient procurement procedures for large-scale portfolios of (mixed) assets;
  and/or
• Financial engineering with a particular focus on leveraging private investment including blending public with private financing or improved combination of existing funds. This could include Energy Performance Contracting (EPC), dedicated financial instruments, innovative on-bill and on-tax payment schemes, communitybased financing schemes etc.

Proposals should aim for high ambition levels, in particular regarding energy savings and decarbonisation, e.g. by focusing on energy efficiency interventions such as deep renovation, nearly zero-energy buildings (nZEB) or zero-emission buildings (ZEB), including building-integrated renewables, positive energy buildings or districts and/or highly energy efficient infrastructure.

Proposals should also specify the needs to be addressed including e.g. a related market/barrier analysis, the financial and organisational approaches/options to be operationalised during the project duration and the engagement of key stakeholders, ex-ante and/or during the project duration, including financial stakeholders.