What is an Investment Concept?
The Investment Concept (IC) is a document, which translates an investment project idea into financial language in order to mobilise financing for its realisation. The purpose of the Investment Concept is:
to provide investors and financial institutions with the information necessary to assess an investment project in a simple and fast manner;
to transform the actions foreseen in the climate and energy plans into sound investment packages and facilitate the access to funding for municipalities / local authorities and local public entities aggregating municipalities/local authorities.
The investment concept template was developed by the EUCF in consultation with key stakeholders – such as financial institutions, representatives of municipalities/local authorities and energy and climate experts – in order to deliver a relevant product that supports EUCF beneficiaries refining their sustainable energy of efficiency project ideas into credible investment packages.
EUCF beneficiaries shall develop the investment concept within 12 months from the signature of the Grant Agreement. The investment concept can be developed by EUCF beneficiaries in national language, if preferred.
Submission of the investment concept
During twelve months, EUCF beneficiaries develop their investment concepts with technical support and guidance from the EUCF team and country experts. The investment concepts developed within the EUCF are submitted by beneficiaries in the EUCF website user zone and validated by a dedicated team.
EUCF beneficiaries must develop their investment concepts making use of the template developed by the EUCF.
As the investment concept template can be filled in the beneficiary’s national language, the Investment Concept Summary must be filled online in English. The summary encompasses key figures on the planned investment, such as financial and impact indicators, allowing for a good overview of the proposed investment concept. For LIFE beneficiaries, the information provided by the beneficiary in the online form is automatically compiled and formatted in the PDF document of the Investment Concept Deck, a visual and concise document that outlines the key elements and value proposition of the investment concept for potential investors and shall facilitate the mobilisation of funds for its implementation.
The mandatory annexes to be submitted with the IC Summary in the EUCF website user zone are:
• The final investment concept, including potential Annexes;
• The letter of support to the investment project by the mayor or other political representative.
Important documents for download
Documents for LIFE EUCF (all beneficiaries from Call 5 and onwards)
• Investment Concept Template
• Investment Concept Summary
• Letter of support to investment concept
• Investment Concept Deck Template
Documents for H2020 EUCF (all beneficiaries from Call 1-4)
• Investment Concept Template (Translated versions also available: Austria (AT), Belgium: (French) and (Dutch), Bulgaria (BG), Croatia (HR), Cyprus (CY), Czech Republic (CZ), Denmark (DK), Estonia (EE), Finland (FI), France (FR), Germany (DE), Greece (EL), Hungary (HU), Ireland (IE), Italy (IT), Latvia (LV), Lithuania (LT), Luxembourg: (French) and (German), Malta (EN), Netherlands (NL), Poland (PL) Portugal(PT), Romania (RO), Slovakia (SK), Slovenia (SL), Spain (ES), Sweden (SE), United Kingdom (UK) )
• Letter of support to investment concept implementation (The use of the template is mandatory for the submission of the IC by beneficiaries)
• English summary of the investment concept
• IC Non-development report
How to get support for an investment concept
The European City Facility provides support to its beneficiaries for developing their investment concepts:
Financial support in the form of a EUR 60 000 grant for activities required for the development of the investment concept
Technical support from the respective Country Experts and from the EUCF team, through the EUCF Helpdesk
Capacity building opportunities through regional events for potential applicants and in partnership with National Hubs
Standard tools and documents, such as templates, to facilitate the development of the investment concept