The European Union’s Horizon 2020 funded in May eight new energy-efficiency projects covering 26 countries.

The new projects are run by multi-participant, multi-country consortia of between 6 and 16 partners, involving organisations in four or more different countries. Spain is the country where most project coordinators (3) are based, followed by Italy (2), the United Kingdom (1), Bulgaria (1) and Greece (1).

The new projects aim, giving a few examples, at facilitating the implementation of nearly-zero energy buildings; enhancing public capacity for a sustainable energy uptake; strengthening  green procurement; developing innovative construction methods for energy-efficient buildings; and deploying a new generation of intelligent district heating and cooling networks.

These new projects complement those already funded under the H2020 Energy Efficiency Call 2014. A total of 456 proposals for sustainable energy projects were received under the Call's two deadlines in 2014. Independent experts determined that 103 of the proposals met the evaluation thresholds. Based on the ranking by the experts, 56 projects have been supported with funding.

These projects will be managed by the Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (EASME) which is responsible for the Horizon 2020 Energy Efficiency Calls.

Truong Duy