It is easy to say that everyone should be looking for grant opportunities. It is not even difficult to find them, especially in the energy sector. However, not everyone can write a competitive application with a unique project idea. Only a handful of Ukrainian municipalities can clear the barrier of turning an idea into a project, with a description of the implementation stages, a high-quality estimate and accompanying documents.
The secrets of writing energy grant applications and life hacks for increasing their competitive rating were discussed at the info session “How to write a grant application for an energy project?” organised by the Regional Office of the U-LEAD with Europe Programme in the Khmelnytskyi Oblast.
Andrii Barulin, an expert of the U-LEAD with Europe Programme on energy efficiency and renewable energy sources, emphasises that energy projects are precise calculations, and the technical component plays a leading role here.
Key features of writing grant applications for energy projects
Firstly, energy projects require the development of project and estimate documentation followed by the state expert examination (depending on the consequence class). This means that the steps of “Seeing the competition – Filling out the form – Entering the project – Receiving funds or equipment” are not enough. In order to write a competitive application for an energy project, you should have not only an idea, but also efficiency calculations and preferably project documentation at the ready.
Secondly, to be successfully implemented, energy projects require appropriate technical supervision by a certified professional, author’s supervision by the developer of the project and estimate documentation, as well as the customer. These concerns should be taken into account as early as at the stage of writing the application. That is, you must have a specific vision of who will do all this.
Thirdly, energy projects have a long-term effect, but in order to fully achieve it, you have to provide for training of the facility’s technical staff in the proper use of the installed equipment and maintenance of the engineering network configuration, as well as adequate warranty obligations for goods, works and services supplied during the implementation of the project. These two points to a certain extent guarantee the implementation of the project that would avoid unpleasant surprises, meet the deadlines and achieve the planned result. After all, the human factor is important, and in order for “space technology” to work in Ukrainian realities, there must be people who understand them at the stage of operation.
“When writing and submitting applications for energy projects, also consider that donors and state programmes often prescribe specific criteria in the terms of competitive selection, such as certain sectors of project implementation, border territories, de-occupied territories, territories affected by Russian aggression, etc. And applications from regions that do not meet these criteria are simply screened out,” said Andrii Barulin.
Another feature of writing applications for energy projects is a clear idea of the goal that the municipality wants to achieve. According to U-LEAD experts, energy projects can function in several directions:
- Energy: reducing the consumption of energy resources in natural terms;
- Financial: reduction of budget expenditures for energy carriers;
- Environment: reduction of greenhouse gas emissions;
- Social: improvement of the conditions of stay of users of municipal facilities;
- Security: provision of uninterrupted energy supply and rendering services during emergencies.
You cannot achieve everything at once with one project. At the stage of writing the application, you need to choose a priority direction, but immediately calculate the effect on others as well. After all, there are quite real cases when municipalities implemented cool projects on thermal modernisation of buildings, ensured a significant increase in their temperature indicators and improved conditions for users of the facility, but received higher costs for energy carriers. This is the case when the project is implemented and its effect is visible and positive, but something was overlooked.
Project application and its main components: What to look for?
The structure of the project application, including energy projects, is standard. But the devil, as they say, is in the detail. Oleksandr Shumelda, an expert of the U-LEAD with Europe Programme on energy efficiency and renewable energy sources, explains what needs to be clearly understood and spelled out in the main part of the grant application for the energy project:
Purpose of the project. The purpose of your project must correspond to the purpose of the grant competition or state programme.
Problems solved by the project. It is important to describe the problem and argue the relevance of its solution for the municipality. Also specify whether the municipality did something to solve it, as well as why the municipality cannot solve the problem on its own.
Goals of the project. The desired result of the activities for a certain period of time under the given conditions of the project implementation. There is no need, however, to specify too many goals in the project application; no more than 3 or 4 are recommended.
Target audience (beneficiaries) of the project. Do not state that the entire municipality is the beneficiary, since most projects are of a local nature and do not cover the entire population.
Results of the project. Specific indicators to be achieved. They must be measurable (units, kWh, m3, %, etc.).
The main components of the application for the energy project also include the project activities and the schedule for their implementation, the information campaign of the project, the calculation of risks, the implementation partners, the team, the sustainability of the project and its budget.
What’s wrong with us: Why is the grant application not being approved?
This is a question asked by municipalities that already have some experience in writing project applications. Each case is individual. However, there are typical mistakes when writing a grant application for an energy project, which lead to a decrease in your competitiveness.
The most common mistakes are a generic approach to writing and an unconvincing motivation; attempts to pass off a social/educational/management problem as an energy problem; lack of skills to describe an energy-related problem; information bubble (everyone knows about us and our problem everywhere, which is actually not the case); unrealistic plans and ideas; inaccurate economic calculations or their inconclusiveness; lack of knowledge of target audiences and inability to prepare a high-quality budget.
When writing applications for energy projects, technical literacy and a certain level of expertise are important as well. Typical technical mistakes include misunderstanding the general principles of operation of individual engineering systems, lack of understanding of the engineering legal framework (reference to laws instead of DBNs), project calculations based on assumptions (assumptions are the domain of researchers and academics; the project should be based on technical and economic justification).
Experts stress that the technical part of the project must speak in the language of numbers rather than slogans. Numbers and measurables will always be more persuasive to donors than your very best slogan. Experts also emphasise that when writing the technical part, you should use reliable sources of technical information and consult with professionals. The first link in Google or Wikipedia are not reliable sources of technical information.
“My attempt #5”: How to avoid burnout and go on?
Your project application will not approved on your first attempt. These are rare exceptions. And if your application was not selected, this is not a reason to throw in the towel and abandon project activities. Those receiving funding for every 5th application are already the lucky ones, say U-LEAD experts. The most important thing in a project is a good idea.
What to do to achieve your goal and write a winning application:
- Carefully read the priorities of the competition and take them into account;
- Donors want long-term changes rather than bandaids;
- Try to improve your application in the future (understand where you went wrong and fix it);
- Allocate enough time to write the application (don’t do it in the last week/day of the deadline);
- Always keep an eye on other grant competitions.
