EFRE-Förderung für nachhaltige Stadtentwicklung und energetische Stadtsanierung beantragen

ERDF funding for sustainable urban development and energy-efficient urban redevelopment provides long-term, effective and visible impetus for the sustainable development of Thuringia's central locations.

Sustainable urban development as part of ERDF funding has already triggered many positive urban developments in Thuringia's municipalities in previous funding periods. European funding is once again available for this in the current 2021 - 2027 funding period.

In the negotiations in preparation for the ERDF funding period 2021 - 2027, the Thuringian Ministry for Digital and Infrastructure (TMDI) has ensured that the municipalities and central locations in Thuringia can continue to be offered funding for traditional projects for sustainable urban and local development. Around 84 million euros in ERDF funding will be available for this in the coming years. With an ERDF funding rate of 60%, investments with a total volume of 140 million euros can be realized. In addition, EU funding can be combined with federal/state and regional urban development programs, which significantly increases its attractiveness.

A further EUR 90 million in funding has been earmarked for energy-efficient urban redevelopment. Funding is available for projects to optimize the energy efficiency of buildings as well as for the expansion, conversion and refurbishment of heating networks. The aim is to improve the performance of the systems, increase the proportion of renewable energies and reduce the overall energy consumption of buildings and infrastructures.

In order to select the best projects for the 2021-2027 funding period, the TMDI initiated the "Sustainable urban development and energy-efficient urban refurbishment" competition in 2022, in which over 150 entries were submitted by a total of 48 municipalities. In a first step, the submitted projects were examined and evaluated by the Thuringian Energy and GreenTech Agency (ThEGA) - in coordination with the TMDI and the Thuringian State Administration Office as the approval authority - based on the objectives and selection criteria of the ERDF program and the criteria formulated in the competition call. In a second step, the resulting selection was discussed and confirmed by an expert commission.

The competition call was aimed at all central locations as important infrastructure anchors in the individual regions of Thuringia. In addition to already experienced ERDF municipalities, municipalities without ERDF experience were also explicitly addressed and were able to prevail in the competition.

The 69 projects that have now been approved for application are assigned to the following measures:

• Projects for the "construction or expansion of heating networks",
• projects for "increasing energy efficiency in public buildings and municipal infrastructure" and
• Projects for the "upgrading of urban districts and municipalities on the basis of integrated urban development concepts".

Due to the limited budget of ERDF funds, not all competition entries classified as fundamentally eligible for funding can receive confirmation in the first stage. In the event that further funding is added or projects are withdrawn during the funding period, all other eligible entries will initially be listed as "latecomers". This means that there is a chance of being admitted to the application process at a later date if necessary.

Applications for approval for successfully qualified competition entries are submitted via the ERDF portal 21-27. The municipalities are supported in the application process by the ThEGA and the Thuringian State Administration Office. Applications must be submitted by December 31, 2024 at the latest.

The required documents are listed on the ERDF portal 2021-2027 and in the FAQs on ERDF NSE funding.

Funding projects for ERDF funding are generally selected as part of a project-related competitive procedure.

This took place for the 2021-2027 ERDF funding period in 2022.

All central locations in Thuringia were invited to take part in the competition.

Only projects that successfully qualified in the ERDF competition are eligible to submit an application.

Information on ERDF-NSE funding can be found on the website of the Ministry responsible for urban development and on the website of the Thuringian Energy and GreenTech Agency Thega.

• ERDF funding for sustainable urban development and energy-efficient urban redevelopment
• Beneficiaries are the central locations of Thuringia (municipalities)
• Funding is provided for
• Increasing energy efficiency in public buildings and infrastructure (municipalities)
• Upgrading of urban districts and municipalities on the basis of integrated urban development concepts
• New construction and expansion of district heating networks in central locations
• A competition was held in 2022 to select the projects to be funded in the 2021-2027 EU funding period
• 69 projects have qualified for application
• Applications for funding must be submitted by 31.12.2024
• There are so-called "latecomer projects", which can also be admitted to submit applications with an extended deadline if the funding budget is available after the application deadline
• Municipalities without qualified projects are not eligible to submit applications in the 2021-2027 EU funding period

Please contact the Thuringian Ministry of Digital and Infrastructure, Department of Construction, Housing and Urban Development.