Eligibility and project criteria

To be eligible for funding, the demonstration projects must comply with the following criteria.

The project owner must:

• be a public organisation, owned by the state, region or municipality;
• have the required debt-servicing capacity;
• have the required resources to fund 15% of the total project cost;
• be able to provide a guarantee covering a loan of EUR 500,000;
• have the institutional capacity to prepare, plan and implement an internationally- financed capital investment project;
• accept and be prepared to apply state-of-the-art technology requirements and design principles and conduct procurements according to NEFCO Procurement Guidelines;
• be prepared to report to the funding agencies and disseminate information on results and achievements of the demonstration project.

The demonstration projects must:

• be built on well-known and proven district heating technology;
• be cost efficient;
• be affordable and not have negative impact on vulnerable consumers;
• increase energy efficiency, with minimum 30% reduction of energy consumption;
• be environmentally sustainable;
• be financially viable, with payback period for the total project cost of maximum eight (8) years;
• be innovative and have the potential to serve as a demonstration project and example of best practice, developed on the basis of state-of-the-art technology requirements and design principles;
• be replicable.

As of 2019, the DemoUkrainaDH programme is no longer inviting applications for new projects. Please read more about the programme’s contribution to the modernisation of district heating systems in several Ukrainian cities here.