Last Master Class Module 2: The Involvement of Banks and Mobilising Private Investment

From the 14^th to the 16^th of October 2019, 20 participants from 14 countries¹ gathered in Brussels to attend the last Module 2 Managenergy MasterClass: The Involvement of Banks and Mobilising Private Investment.

Modules 1 and 3 focus on Market Facilitation and the Use of Financial Instruments respectively, but this Module is particularly useful to understand the fundaments of Banking and the key concepts on obtaining financial sources and learning how to invest. This module was facilitated by Seamus Hoyne, Manager of the Limerick Institute of Technology (LIT) and by Berlin Energy Agency (BEA).

As usual, this Master Class included a wide range of different activities such as interactive classes, group work and presentations from trainers and experts. The first day focused on the Fundamentals of Financial Analysis, with Prof. Ursula Walther from Berlin School of Economics and Law. As Prof Walther states, the aim of the course is to "make them more familiar with financial language and banking language, and give them additional perspective on how to finance situations and find solutions".

Day 2 started with "Understanding Financial Instruments and the Basics of Banking" by Prof. Ursula Walther. After lunch, a group work activity on case studies was conducted by Christoph Sappa, from BEA, where participants analysed financial statements from different agencies and developed solutions and proposals for their needs. This was followed by an interactive role play to develop arguments and presentations to secure financing under different scenarios.

Day 3 started with an activity for the positioning and growth of the participant’s Energy Agencies guided by Christoph Sappa and Seamus Hoyne, from LIT. It then moved on a presentation on Financing of renewables and energy efficiency, by Mr Bach from KfW, a German a national promotional bank (NPBI). And it was followed by a presentation of EU support programmes by Christoph Milin and Michele Sansoni from EASME, and by Dinis Rodrigues from EIB. Finally, after a brief feedback discussion and summary, the participants’ certificates were handed.

There are different reasons why participants attend the Master Classes, including to learn about the financial terms and to find out what other people are doing to finance their projects,  "This new knowledge will allow me to be confident when talking to banks and developing projects", said Siona Daly from Tipperary Energy Agency. For Todov Tonev, from the Black Sea Regional Agency for Energy Management (BSRAEM), an essential aspect of the Classes is the cooperation opportunities with the other Energy agencies from all over Europe.

The last Master Class will take place on 3-5 February (Module 3). Applications are open online.

1. Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden.

Watch the video of the Master Class: