Agne Kazlauskaite, DG REGIO, will discuss how public funds under Cohesion Policy can be better designed to support energy efficiency investments, including in buildings. The session will explore how moving beyond traditional grant-based funding models towards revolving loan and/or guarantee-based financial instruments - including in combination with grants - can more effectively mobilise private investment, and how ESCO models can be enabled within this framework. It will also highlight practical examples and key bottlenecks affecting the uptake of such approaches.

Slawomir Huss will present Solas Capital’s long-standing experience in structuring tailor-made project funding for Energy Service Companies (ESCOs) that install energy efficiency and behind-the-meter equipment across European buildings. Solas partners with ESCOs to fund efficiency technologies such as heat pumps, LED lighting, self-consumption solar, and building management systems. Supported by the EIB and the EU LIFE programme, Solas Capital’s strategy is designed to scale-up energy efficiency investment across the EU, and has financed over 4,600 projects to date.