The BRAVE partnership met in Aarhus, Denmark, on May 6-7, 2025, for the project’s first Partner Meeting since its kick-off in Rotterdam.
Building a market-making mindset
The summit's central theme focused on the need for a new public sector mindset to break the systemic logjam holding back the local energy transition. To overcome multi-stakeholder inertia, discussions emphasised that public authorities must shift from being neutral facilitators to proactive ‘market-makers’ who can create ‘greenfield markets’ with untapped potential. This new approach, summed up by the mantra “do something crazy” , involves public bodies using their unique bankability to provide guarantees and build the first block of a minimum-viable ecosystem. It was stressed that any new market-making model must present a dual value proposition: one that aligns with public goals for environmental and societal development, and another that offers a credible business case to private investors.
Day 1 - Recapping the vision and sharing best practice
The first day recapped the project's vision and reviewed the latest progress from partners. A standout example of the public sector-led innovations advanced within BRAVE was presented by the meeting's hosts, the Aarhus Climate Company (ACC). The ACC is a public-backed Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) and a separate legal entity from the municipality. It successfully used an 80% public guarantee to secure a €13 million private bank loan with a 20-year payback period—double what is typically available on the commercial market. A 10-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) to sell solar energy back to municipal buildings ensures its long-term revenue. This model, alongside the ASTER SPV in Flanders which secured a €105 million loan, is emerging as a key tool for replication.
Day 2 - Clustering for progress and planning next steps
Day two centered on collaborative planning, with partners working in clusters according to the maturity of their local models. This approach allowed partners in the 'Design' phase (Malmö, Flux50, BOM) to address similar challenges around early-stage planning, while those in the 'Demonstrate' (Rotterdam, HannoverImpuls) and 'Deliver' (ASTER, Aarhus, Amiens) phases focused on scaling existing models and supporting replication. The partnership agreed on key actions to be advanced before the next meeting, including the development of a "State of the Sector" report led by Cleantech Scandinavia , the drafting of the BRAVE Business Readiness Handbook , and the launch of defined roadmaps for each regional model.
Key Takeaways
- Public sector market-making is essential: To break the current logjam, public authorities must adopt a new, proactive mindset and act as 'market-makers' who create and shape new opportunities in the local energy sector.
- The public guarantee-backed SPV is a key tool for replication: The success of the Aarhus Climate Company and ASTER demonstrates that using public guarantees to secure large-scale private loans for Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) is a powerful and replicable strategy.
- Lean and dynamic models are crucial: These new public entities should be designed as small, expert teams that operate as separate and dynamic units, driven towards a clear mission and commercial viability, rather than being fitted into existing municipal departments.
- Institutional capital is ready but requires aggregation: Private and institutional capital is increasingly available for energy infrastructure, but attracting it requires cities to develop project pipelines that extend beyond a single region, possibly through City Climate Funds.
- Dual value propositions are needed to scale: To succeed, these new models must clearly align with public sector goals while also offering a credible, bankable business case that appeals to private sector actors and investors.
BRAVE’s next partner meeting will take place in Lille, France, in September 2025.