European City Facility – Eighth Call for Applications: Support local authorities in developing investment concepts for sustainable energy

The European City Facility eighth call offers lump-sum grants to support municipalities, local authorities or groupings to develop investment concepts for sustainable energy projects (energy efficiency, renewable energy and heating/cooling planning). Eligible applicants are public local authorities established in EU Member States, Iceland, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Ukraine. Selected beneficiaries receive up to €60,000 per investment concept from an indicative total budget of €3.72 million. The call closes on 21 December 2026 at 17:00 (confirm the operative time zone in the Funding & Tenders Portal).

Purpose

What it funds

Grants to develop investment concepts that move local sustainable energy projects towards full business and financial plans, enabling later investment mobilisation in energy efficiency and renewable energy.

Who can apply

Municipalities, local authorities and their groupings or local public entities from the 27 EU Member States, Iceland, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Ukraine.

Key dates and process

Opening date 26 October 2026. Deadline 21 December 2026, 17:00 Brussels time. Single-stage submission with an initial eligibility check followed by full application and evaluation.

Apply and find guidance, templates and national hub contacts on the programme website EU City Facility 1.

Footnotes

1. 1Official call and application materials are available from the European City Facility website and helpdesk: eucityfacility.eu and fmp.eucityfacility.eu

Short description

The European City Facility (EUCF) eighth call supports municipalities, local authorities and their groupings to develop investment concepts that are an initial step towards full business and financial plans and to facilitate the mobilization of investments in energy efficiency and renewable energy. The call offers a lump-sum grant of up to €60,000 per approved investment concept. The EUCF programme for this call is run under LIFE25-CET-LIFE EUCF 3.0 (Project acronym: LIFE25-CET-LIFE EUCF 3.0; Grant Agreement number: 101293369). Full call documentation, helpdesk and national hub support are available through the EUCF web portal EU City Facility 1.

Key administrative details

Detailed eligibility and scope

Submission and evaluation process

Funding and forms of support

Who should apply

Consortium and partnership requirements

The call operates primarily with single beneficiary applicants (municipality/local authority) or groupings of local authorities acting as a single applicant. There is no mandatory multi-partner consortium model in the sense of multi-country research consortia; groupings of local authorities may apply together to prepare a joint investment concept.

Project maturity and expected outputs

Application practicalities and templates

Application materials, eligibility checklist, full application form, proposal guidelines and templates are published on the EUCF website. Applicants must complete the eligibility check and then the full application form during the single-stage call. National Hubs provide guidance in national languages and technical and financial assistance through the application and report preparation stages. Use the EUCF portal to access templates and the helpdesk EU City Facility 1.

Co-funding, success rates and number of awards

Application stages and timeline

Nature of support and additional services

Beneficiaries receive monetary support (lump-sum grant up to €60,000) to produce an investment concept. In addition, EUCF provides non-monetary technical assistance via national hubs, including guidance, template materials, technical and financial expertise for preparing the investment concept and support with monitoring reports. Therefore support is both monetary and non-monetary.

Evaluation scoring and selection guidance

Evaluation focuses on the four criteria listed earlier. Applicants should clearly evidence ambition (scale and impact of proposed investment), present a credible governance structure to develop the plan, demonstrate stakeholder engagement strategies (local stakeholders, utilities, financiers, community), and present a coherent and plausible plan showing feasibility, realistic cost estimates, expected energy and CO2 impacts and next steps to mobilize finance.

Explicit lists and facts extracted from the call text

Mentioned countries

Project stage and expected outcomes

Summary and final explanation

The EUCF Eighth Call funds the preparation of investment concepts for sustainable energy projects by local public authorities across EU27 and selected neighbouring countries. It provides lump-sum grants of up to €60,000 per successful applicant and complementary technical assistance through national hubs. The call is single-stage (eligibility check then full application), evaluated on four clear criteria. The aim is to turn local energy ambitions into bankable, investment-ready concepts that enable later mobilization of investment for energy efficiency, renewable energy and heating and cooling projects at local level. Interested applicants should consult the EUCF website for full templates, the eligibility checklist, national hub contacts and to submit questions to the helpdesk EU City Facility 1.

Footnotes

1. 1Official EUCF call page and application materials are available at eucityfacility.eu. For helpdesk requests use fmp.eucityfacility.eu. National support contacts are listed at eucityfacility.eu.

Opportunity Overview

The European City Facility eighth call provides simplified financial and technical support to municipalities, local authorities, groups of municipalities, and local public entities that aggregate municipalities. The support is intended to develop an investment concept for sustainable energy projects, creating an initial basis for a subsequent full business plan, financial plan, investment decision, and mobilisation of capital. 1

The call is financed under the European Union LIFE Programme and focuses on projects involving energy efficiency, renewable or other clean energy initiatives, and local heating and cooling planning. 2

Key Call Facts

Who Can Apply

Eligible applicant categories include the following:

Applicants must be established in an eligible participating country. The eligible geography comprises the European Union Member States, Iceland, Ukraine, Moldova, Montenegro, and North Macedonia. 2

The call is therefore primarily designed for public-sector applicants rather than private companies, universities, charities, or standalone commercial project developers. Private or other technical organisations may potentially support preparation activities, but the beneficiary must satisfy the public-authority eligibility requirements.

Strategic Planning Requirement

Applicants must demonstrate political and strategic commitment to the proposed investment. The usual basis is a Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan, or another climate or energy plan with mitigation targets. The eighth call also recognises a sustainable heating and cooling plan as an eligible strategic framework. 2

The relevant plan should provide a credible link between the applicant’s local policy objectives and the proposed investment concept. Applicants should be prepared to identify the plan, its targets, the responsible political authority, and the way in which the investment concept contributes to implementation.

What the Funding Supports

The grant supports the preparation of an investment concept for a sustainable energy investment or portfolio of investments. Eligible preparatory work may include:

The investment concept should be sufficiently developed to facilitate the next stage of investment preparation. It is not primarily a grant for construction, equipment purchase, installation, or the direct implementation of the underlying energy project.

Potential Investment Areas

The supported investment concept may address one or more of the following areas:

Projects should demonstrate a realistic pathway towards significant investment. A proposal consisting only of a general policy study, without a plausible investment pipeline, financing logic, or implementation pathway, would be less aligned with the purpose of the facility.

Application Process

The EUCF application process consists of two main stages:

The application form is submitted online and must be completed in English. 2

Applicants should allow sufficient time for registration, preparation of supporting documents, internal approvals, validation of the application, and final electronic submission. Submission should not be left until the final hours because portal access, document upload, or organisational validation issues may prevent timely filing.

Expected Application Content

A competitive application should clearly address the following points:

Funding Conditions and Limitations

The €60,000 support is intended for development of the investment concept and associated preparation activities. It should not be treated as capital funding for physical works or as a substitute for the later financing required to implement the investment.

The programme description indicates a lump-sum award. Applicants should nevertheless retain evidence of the work performed, outputs produced, internal decisions, contracts, and other records required by the grant agreement or call documentation. The final payment and reporting conditions should be checked in the official call documents because the available summary does not specify the detailed payment trigger, reporting template, audit provisions, or treatment of incomplete outputs.

No fixed project implementation duration is stated in the available call summary. The operative grant agreement and call documents should be used to confirm the period allowed for preparing and delivering the investment concept, milestone dates, reporting obligations, and any extension provisions.

Assessment Considerations

Although the detailed scoring grid is not included in the available summary, applicants are likely to be assessed on practical readiness and the probability that EUCF support will lead to investment. Strong proposals should demonstrate:

Applicant Preparation Checklist

Overall Opportunity Assessment

This is a targeted project-development opportunity for public authorities that have a strategic energy commitment but need resources to turn that commitment into an investable concept. The principal benefit is the rapid preparation of the technical, legal, stakeholder, business, and financial foundations needed to attract later investment. The grant is relatively small compared with infrastructure costs, but it can materially reduce the early-stage preparation barrier for municipal energy projects.

The opportunity is best suited to applicants with an identified investment pipeline, political backing, access to relevant data, and a realistic intention to secure follow-on financing. Applicants seeking funding solely for construction, equipment, or general operating costs are unlikely to fit the purpose of the call.

Official Sources

The authoritative opportunity record is available through the EU Funding and Tenders Portal: EU Funding and Tenders Portal opportunity 16821COMPETITIVE_CALLen.

Further programme information, including the call structure and eligibility explanations, is available from the European City Facility: European City Facility calls.

The eighth call information identifies the application geography, strategic planning conditions, application stages, and eligible preparation activities. 2

Sources and qualification notes

Footnotes

1. 1Opportunity description and EUCF programme information identify a maximum lump-sum grant of €60,000 per investment concept. EU Funding and Tenders Portal opportunity European City Facility programme information
2. 2European City Facility call information identifies eligible applicants, eligible countries, strategic plan requirements, heating and cooling plan coverage, the two-stage application process, English submission, and examples of supported preparation activities. European City Facility Call 8
3. 3Call-specific information reported for the eighth call indicates 62 beneficiaries, an indicative budget of €3.72 million, and a closing date of 21 December 2026 at 17:00 CET. The opportunity metadata states 17:00 UTC. Applicants should rely on the final portal display and call documents for the binding time zone. European City Facility eighth call information