Good practices

This page provides examples of good practices for the use of EU ETS auctioning revenues from 13 Member States. For further details on an individual project click below. For access to the full list of good practice case studies click here.

Subsidy for Energy renovation of Social Housing in Belgium

The Energy Renovation of Social Housing Programme in Flanders, Belgium, provides financial assistance to social housing companies for energy renovation of the dwellings. The aim is to support households with low- to middle-incomes. The programme led to significant improvements in the energy efficiency of dwellings and led to an estimated reduction of 1.4 million tons of CO2. Auctioning revenues entirely financed the programme.

Supporting the projects in Flood Risk Management Plans Programme in Estonia

The Flood Risk Management Plans Programme in Estonia finances studies and construction activities related to flood risks, focusing on risk management and prevention measures. Since 2018, 15 projects have been implemented, including flood risk studies and construction projects. The programme is fully financed by auction revenues which are considered to have acted as a catalyst mobilizing future co-financing for local municipalities.

Better Living Programme supporting low-income households for energy efficiency retrofitting of homes in France

The Better Living (“Habiter Mieux”) Programme in France aims to improve energy efficiency in housing by providing grants to low-income households. Since 2011, the Programme contributed to renovating 549,002 housing units, with an average energy savings gain of 50%. “MaPrimRénov’ Sérénité”, a part of the program, has achieved 2.1 TWh of final energy savings since 2020. Auction revenues have been essential to the programme, contributing 64% of its budget.

CO2-Building Modernisation Programme in Germany

The CO₂-Building Modernisation Programme in Germany is funded partly by auctioning revenues through the Climate and Transformation Fund (‘KTF’ from the German Klima- und Transformationsfonds). The programme provides financial incentives to invest in new buildings and refurbishments according to newly defined energy-efficiency standards. The Program has supported over 6 million homes, 4,000 social and municipal infrastructure buildings, and 8,000 commercial buildings. In the first half of 2021 alone, around 110,000 new measures were approved, resulting in an anticipated annual reduction of 255,000 tons of CO₂ equivalents and €3.4 billion in energy savings. Auctioning revenues play a vital role in financing the programme. The largest share of this climate fund goes into funding energy-efficient refurbishments of buildings.

Renewable Energy Sources Scheme in Greece

The Renewable Energy Sources Support Scheme in Greece, financed partially with auctioning revenues, aims to boost renewable energy production. The programme aims to support electricity produced from various renewable energy sources, such as onshore wind, photovoltaic, wind, photovoltaic storage, biogas, biomass, landfill gas, hydroelectric power, concentrated solar power, and geothermal power plants. The Programme led to a significant increase in the share of renewable energy in gross final energy consumption. From 2013 until 2021, the Programme received €17 billion, of which around 1.8 billion (11%) were channeled from auctioning revenues.

Green Bus Programme in Hungary

The Green Bus Programme in Hungary aims to transform the bus fleet and promote sustainability in public transportation. With the help of auctioning revenues, the programme supported the purchase of 135 electric buses, 4 self-propelled trolleybuses, and the installation of 148 charging stations. This investment is expected to reduce emissions by around 70,000 tonnes of CO2 per year. Deploying green public transportation fleets not only promotes environmental sustainability but also improves air quality and reduces noise pollution. The use of auctioning revenues, which accounted for 17.5% of the total cost, has been important in supporting the implementation of this program in Hungary.

Mobility Voucher Programme in Italy

The Mobility Voucher (“Buono Mobilità”) Programme in Italy promoted sustainable mobility by providing mobility vouchers for the purchase of bicycles, shared mobility services, and electric micro-vehicles (e.g. micro electric cars) . By the 2020, the Programme facilitated over 662,000 mobility purchases, reducing car travel and emissions. This resulted in avoidance of 391 million km of car travel and annual emissions reductions of 12,605 kg of particulate matter, 49,910 kg of nitrogen dioxide, and 65,415,578 kg of carbon dioxide. The programme was fully funded with auctioning revenues.

Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions with Smart Urban Technologies in Latvia

Latvia directs the proceeds from emission allowances auctioning to the Emission Allowances Auction Instrument (EKII). The EKII allocated funds towards implementing the project Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions with Smart Urban Technologieswhich supported smart urban technologies to reduce emissions. Fully funded by auction revenues, the programme supported 15 projects estimated to reduce 560 tons of CO₂ emissions annually. Primarily installing smart public lighting and solar panels, the programme played a key role in promoting renewable energy and resource reduction in urban areas. The ETS auctioning revenues entirely funded the Programme. The funds of the EKII available within the tender were €8 million.

Renovation of multiapartment buildings programme in Lithuania

The Renovation of Multi-apartment Buildings Programme in Lithuania renovated 3,445 multi-apartment buildings, saving 955 GWh of energy. The programme also raised public awareness of energy performance and savings issues. Auction revenues supported the delivery of the programme. The total value of the programme from 2013-2021 amounted to € 1 billion and the level of contribution of auction revenues to the programme ranged between 4% to 42% on average per year. The relative contribution of auction revenues shrank over time with more limited contributions in recent years.

Feed-in Tariff Scheme for Electricity Generated from Solar Photovoltaic Installations in Malta

The Feed-in-Tariff Programme in Malta promoted solar photovoltaic installations, contributing to a significant increase in renewable energy. The Feed-in tariff Scheme established a feed-in-tariff (FIT) for electricity generated from solar photovoltaic installations. The scheme facilitated significant growth in renewable energy utilisation. Between 2016 and 2021, the total energy consumption of renewable energy sources registered a substantial increase from 383 GWh to 758 GWh, mainly attributed to the uptake of solar PVs. While the precise contribution of auction revenues to the programme could not be quantified by the authorities, auctioning revenues positively contributed to the implementation of the scheme with a total of € 114 million of revenues over the period 2013-2021.

Vehicle Fleet Renewal Programme Plus in Romania

The Vehicle Fleet Renewal (“Rabla Plus”) Programme, developed in Romania, aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in transport by providing non-reimbursable funding for the purchase of electric and hybrid vehicles. The programme achieved significant results, with 4,171 electric vehicles financed in 2021 alone. Revenues from auctioning greenhouse gas emissions certificates played a critical role in funding the Rabla Plus Programme, with nearly € 78 million allocated to it from 2018 to 2021.

The Environmental Fund: Increasing energy efficiency in existing public buildings in Slovakia

The Increasing Energy Efficiency in Existing Public Buildings Programme was developed in Slovakia to improve energy efficiency in public buildings through thermal insulation improvements. The programme achieved significant results, with 763 contracted projects between 2017 and 2021. Through the programme, a total of 84,500,012.00 kWh of energy was saved between 2014 and 2022. In 2022 alone, the program led to savings of 6,390,758.00 kWh of energy and 1,365.82 tons of CO₂. The programme's funding was supported by auctioning revenues from the Environmental Fund of the Slovak Republic amounting to € 130 million over 2014-2021.

The Climate Projects programme under the Carbon Fund for a Sustainable Economy in Spain

The Climate Projects Programme in Spain, developed under the Carbon Fund for a Sustainable Economy (FES-CO₂), supports low-carbon activities and clean technology development. The programme launched eight calls for proposals and supported around 800 projects, with € 39 million disbursed from 2013 to 2021. The FES-CO₂ is financed by annual allocations from the General State Budget and auctioning revenues from the European Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). The level of contributions varied but could not be quantified on an annual basis. From 2013 to 2019, the Climate Projects Programme was the primary activity of the FES-CO₂.