"Intracting", the Energy Savings Fund

By project NACAO

Published on 08 January 2025

France

Rhône-Alpes

Albertville

About this good practice

In 2023, the energy costs still represent 22% of the general expenses of the city of Albertville. In a context of limited economic capacity due to the geographical position (a small city surrounded by mountains), and its past and recent history (medieval city and host of the winter Olympic games of 1992), leads to a lack of financial means to heavily invest in the renovation of the whole building stock. Following the example of Stuttgart, the city of Albertville chose the intracting solution in 2019 to act quickly and reduce the energy bills.
Intracting is a virtuous circle where a fund is granted by the financial services to the technical services at a 0% loan through a contract. The technical services then implement a solution that will enable energy savings (e.g. the replacement of lightning bulbs). The energy savings then generate money savings that are used to repay the granted fund. Money can then be reinvested into new projects of energy savings.
To initiate the intracting, the amount of the first granted fund was estimated with the energy savings in 2018 multiplied by the energy prices in 2019. Then, the team chose the first measures leading to energy savings. The fund can now last for several years.
The stakeholders enabling this good practice are the elected officials who have the political will to implement the solution, the technical services and the financial services working in cooperation.

Expert opinion

This good practice is in line with the goals of the EU Green Deal, as well as the European Energy Efficiency Directive. The concept known as intracting, is a strategic and practical approach to addressing energy efficiency in public buildings, particularly in municipalities with limited financial capacity. The system allows local governments like Albertville to implement energy-saving measures without upfront costs by leveraging future savings to fund the initial investments. This approach not only helps to reduce energy consumption but also supports sustainability goals and improves financial management. Albertville's use of intracting is an excellent example of how municipalities with limited resources can take proactive steps to reduce energy costs and improve sustainability. By leveraging the concept of a self-financing fund, Albertville is making meaningful progress in managing its energy expenses. The practice is building on a long history of intracting, and is already shared among different cities in Europe, showing its high replicability.

Magda Michaliková

Works at Interreg Europe Policy Learning Platform

Resources needed

The first fund reached 113k€ in 2019, which was a good balance between the required amount to have tangible actions and a quite low impact on the city budget (reimbursement within a few years with the energy savings). It needs a yearly follow-up as this good practice is replicated every year.

Evidence of success

1 566 K€ have been invested in energy savings projects since its launch in 2019, initially not planned on the mandate. Energy savings reached 256 260 € for 2019 - 2023 period, and 202 254€ in just one year in 2024. Many actions were accelerated or enabled thanks to the fund: replacement of all the lightning bulbs of the city, change of vehicles from the city staff, greening of schoolyards. Big renovation works are planned for the coming year, including change of the roof and heating systems.

Potential for learning or transfer

This good practice is already a new version of the intracting implemented in Stuttgart 30 years ago, with add-ons such as the use of the electricity tax and a broader scope of the actions. Since 2024, many replications are occurring, mainly thanks to the ongoing project Prospect+, giving tools and a training to cities willing to start intracting. Etterbeek (BE) is implementing intracting in 2025 after Prospect+ transfer. In France, 3 cities are considering this tool in 2025 for a rapid implementation, as well as groups of cities organizations and some hospitals.
This good practice can easily be transferred to other territories as the principle of energy savings generating money savings is the same. The main difference will be in the choice of the actions that will be implemented. Further information can be found in the two files attached, specifically in the "bibliography" file.