The timely focus of procuRE is on cost-effective delivery of on-site RES solutions to existing public buildings.
Challenges in delivering on-site RES include accommodating spatial constraints, adapting to the surrounding built environment and delivering enough energy storage to eliminate use of the electricity grid. For optimal performance it is essential to integrate solutions across technologies, requiring procuRE suppliers to overcome the current extreme fragmentation of the sector, where more than 95% of manufacturers and professionals operate as SMEs, and most in siloed national or local markets. Integration of the optimal selection of cutting-edge RE technologies requires a level of expertise most owners and their planners cannot be expected to acquire. More finance must be attracted to advanced energy renovation despite investors' natural preference for low-risk solutions and their aversion to complexity.
procuRE focuses on non-residential buildings in the public sector. The residential sector cannot be expected to generate the necessary demand – only 10% of units are in the portfolios of larger housing companies. Public sector actors typically have large portfolios and the types of public building selected by ProcuRE municipalities – administrative offices and schools – make up a large part with high potential for replication in the private sector. ProcuRE brings together 6 procurers from 6 countries to jointly tackle the common challenge of achieving 100% Renewable Energy Supply in existing public buildings. The procurers are willing to invest 7.68 million € in Research and Development to address this challenge in their regions, to be prepared in coming years to tackle their combined stock of over 21,000 buildings. The procuRE solutions, developed in competition under the PCP instrument, will fully meet the need for decarbonisation of building stock.