INTELLIGENT ENERGY - EUROPE PROGRAMME

Decision No 1230/2003/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2003 concerned a multiannual programme for action in the field of energy "Intelligent Energy - Europe" for the period 2003-2006. On 5 September 2003 the European Commission adopted a Memorandum of Understanding on the participation of Lithuania in this program for the period 2003-2006. The programme was designed as the main Community instrument for non-technological support. It provided continuity for the actions undertaken during the period from 1998 to 2002 under the ALTENER, SAVE, SYNERGY, ETAP, CARNOT, and TACIS programmes and combined all activities in the energy sector.

The decision No 1639/2006/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 2006 establishes a Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (2007 to 2013). This Programme shall contribute to the competitiveness and innovative capacity of the Community as an advanced knowledge society, with sustainable development based on robust economic growth and a highly competitive social market economy with a high level of protection and improvement of the quality of the environment, paying particular attention to the specific characteristics and requirements of SMEs as well as of micro and craft enterprises, and specific target groups. The common objectives of the Framework Programme should be pursued by specific programmes, one of which is "the Intelligent Energy - Europe Programme", supporting energy efficiency, renewable energy sources and energy diversification. The programme shall contribute to ensuring secure, sustainable energy for Europe, while enhancing European competitiveness.

In operational terms the Intelligent Energy - Europe Programme aims to:
(a) provide the elements necessary for the improvement of sustainability, the development of the potential of cities and regions, as well as for the preparation of the legislative measures needed to attain the related strategic objectives; develop the means and instruments to follow up, monitor and evaluate the impact of the measures adopted by the Community and its Member States in the fields addressed by that programme;
(b) boost investment across Member States in new and best performing technologies in the fields of energy efficiency, renewable energy sources and energy diversification, including in transport, by bridging the gap between the successful demonstration of innovative technologies and their effective, broad market uptake in order to attain leverage of public and private sector investment, promote key strategic technologies, bring down costs, increase market experience and contribute to reducing the financial risks and other perceived risks and barriers that hinder this type of investment;
(c) remove the non-technological barriers to efficient and intelligent patterns of energy production and consumption by promoting institutional capacity building at, inter alia, local and regional level, by raising awareness, notably through the educational system, by encouraging exchanges of experience and know-how among the main players concerned, business and citizens in general and by stimulating the spread of best practices and best available technologies, notably by means of their promotion at Community level.

• Energy efficiency and rational use of resources (SAVE);
• New and renewable resources (ALTENER);
• Energy in transport (STEER);
• Integrated initiatives.

Taking into account the need to adjust to future developments, the common provisions of Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme provide for an annual work programme for all specific programmes, including Intelligent Energy - Europe. Each annual work programme contains the following elements: measures, needed for implementation of the Programme, priorities, related qualitative and quantitative objectives, appropriate evaluation criteria and indicators, operational timetables, the rules for participation, submission, selection, evaluation and award criteria.

Total budget of Intelligent Energy - Europe Programme II (2007-2013) is € 730 mln. Total budget to support projects in 2011 was € 104,5 mln., in 2012 is € 122,3 mln.

Annual Work Programme 2012 could be found here (PDF).

Information on call for proposals 2012 for funding.

All required information could be found in Intelligent Energy - Europe website.

The Intelligent Energy - Europe programme does not fund "hardware" type investments, such as installations and infrastructure, or technical research and development projects. It concentrates rather on actions such as the creation of favourable market conditions, international transfer of experience, promotion of best practices, institutional capacity building, information dissemination, education and training of market players.