Replace the energy system with a low-carbon one

You can apply for energy aid if your organization has not yet launched the project for which you are applying aid. Your organization must be planning an investment or audit project in renewable energy or energy saving with investment cost of at least EUR 10,000 (energy-efficiency investment) or EUR 30,000 (renewable energy investment and other low-carbon investments). If the investment aims to utilize waste heat as district heat, the investment cost is at least EUR 30,000.

You want to promote the production and use of renewable energy

• Your organization wants to invest in new technology
• Your organization wants to invest in a new plant, or
• Your organization engages in a voluntary replacement investment that significantly increases the production volume of renewable energy or that allows the achievement of some other positive energy impact that complies with the goal

You want to promote energy saving or more efficient production or use of energy

• Your organization wants to implement an investment or research project to promote energy savings.
  
  BUT is not intended to fulfill a mandatory environmental obligation and is not a mandatory energy audit that companies must carry out under the Energy Efficiency Act (1429/2014).

You want to otherwise contribute to replacing the energy system wit a low carbon one

Energy aid can be used for

• Investment projects that invest in fixed assets.
• Energy audits, which are Motiva-type energy audits, targeted audits (pilot) and municipal renewable energy audits
  In addition, see the pilot funding for In-depth investigations

Priority is given to projects involving new technology. "New technology" means novel solutions that have not been experimented with on a broad scale in Finland and that play an important role in achieving long-term energy and climate goals. Typically, this is the first commercial implementation or one of the first implementations. The adoption of new technology usually entails extra costs or risks compared to a corresponding project implemented using conventional technology.

Conventional technology projects can also be supported with discretion, with priority given to well-prepared projects and well-drafted aid applications.

Aid for new technologies may be increased on a case-by-case basis. The need for and level of increased aid will be assessed on a case-by-case basis, considering the risk involved in introducing new technology and the associated profitability analysis. For new technology projects, we may ask the applicant to provide an independent opinion on the project’s novelty, if the funder considers it necessary to verify that the project is novel. 

In particular, for large demonstration projects, (MEAE) the need for increased aid is assessed on a case-by-case basis. 

Below are the conventional technology investments and their aid percentages:

Investments in renewable energy: Investment projects

• Heat pump projects*, 15%
• Solar heat projects, 20%
• Landfill gas projects, 15%
• Small wind power projects, 20%
• Small-CHP projects**, 15%
• Solar electricity projects, 15%
• Biogas projects, 25%
• Renewable energy audits in the municipal sector, 50%
• Separate heat production projects based on combustion, such as wood chip and pellet boilers, are NOT eligible for aid. An exception: biogas and new technologies are eligible.
• No financing for small hydropower projects

* excluding projects related to the use of waste and residual heat, which are subject to aid percentages related to energy savings)
** Small CHP project refers to a plant with an electric power of less than 1 MWe.)

Please note: The market value of guarantees of origin is taken into account in determining the amount of aid.

Investments in renewable energy: Heat generation

• Aid is granted to heating plants which use only renewable energy sources (excluding starter fuel and low peak utilization.
• No aid is granted for heat generation projects of more than 1 MW except in the case of new technology or low temperature network.
• No aid is granted for heat production projects if the project involves replacing district heating with separate heat production. (the amount of heat removed from the district heating system as a result of the investment also influences the aid assessment)
• Aid may be granted for heat pumps above 1 MW only if the project involves new technology or a low-temperature network.
• Aid may be granted for the purchase of electric boilers, if the boiler itself involves new technology.

Investments in renewable energy: Electricity generation

• Projects regarding energy reserves can only be considered for the aid if the company simultaneously invests in renewable energy production capacity or in machinery and equipment to improve energy efficiency. The maximum cost of an energy reserve facility in a project can be 50% of the total cost of the project.
• For 1–5 MW projects, the applicant must submit a long-term electricity sale contract or otherwise assign a long-term electricity buyer.
• No aid is granted for power generation projects above 5 MW (except for new technologies).

Investments in renewable energy: Fuel production

• For fuel distribution projects, aid can only be granted in connection with production plant projects. Aid can be granted for one distribution station at most, provided that it is located in the immediate vicinity of the production plant.
• In biofuel projects, aid can only be granted for plant projects that do not use logs or pulpwood.
• In biogas projects, the applicant must submit a plan for further processing and use of digestate. Investments related to refining, liquefying, transporting, distributing, or using biogas will only be eligible for aid if accompanied by an investment in new reactor capacity. Investments in expanding existing biogas plants are only eligible for aid if digester gas and biogas production capacity increases.

Investments promoting energy savings and energy efficiency in 2022: conventional technologies

Investigation projects

• Motiva-type energy audits in the municipal sector, micro-enterprises and SMEs related to energy efficiency agreements, 50%.
• Motiva's Targeted Audit (Täsmäkatselmus) pilot 2021–2023
• In-depth study pilot 2022–2024 (only large companies with energy-efficiency agreements)

Investment projects

• 20% for companies and communities that have entered into energy efficiency agreements.
• 25% when the ESCO service is used in the above.
• 15% for companies and communities other than those that have entered into energy efficiency agreements when the ESCO service.

No aid is granted for the following projects

• Energy investments for new buildings are not eligible for aid, except for new technology projects
• Housing companies, residential properties, or farms, or projects carried out in connection with them, are not eligible for energy support.

Energy efficiency

• Investments in control and automation systems for heating and ventilation of buildings are not supported with respect to the level required by the Act 733/2020 on equipping buildings with charging points and charging point facilities for electric vehicles and automation and control systems, but an energy-efficient part exceeding this level may be eligible for support. In such cases, please contact Business Finland’s experts.
• Aid may be granted for heat pumps above 1 MW only if the project involves new technology or a low-temperature network. When the heat pumps use surplus heat as an energy source, aid may be granted for heat pumps with a capacity of up to 5 MW even if the technology used in the project is conventional. In the case of new technologies, it is also possible to support heat pump projects with a capacity of more than 5 MW
• Exhaust gas scrubbers or related heat recovery investments if they are related to emissions trading plants or heating plants with power ratings exceeding 10 MW.
• Lighting-related conventional technology projects (incl. LED lights, etc.)
• Insulation or alterations to the exterior cladding of buildings (including doors and windows), lids and doors of refrigeration equipment, weather or rain shelters, or similar applications 
• Energy efficiency projects carried out in new buildings
• On-farm projects (with the exception of projects where 80% of the energy produced is used off-farm)

Other projects

• Hydropower projects
• The purchase of equipment for the production of wood and recycled fuels (including choppers, crushers, chip containers, other equipment), excluding projects involving new technology.
• Waste incineration projects or incineration plants where waste-based recycled fuels account for a large proportion of fuel use.
• For investments in renewable energy in new buildings; excluding new technologies, small-scale wind power and solar energy investments

The aid is not granted to the following operators

• Housing companies*
• Residential properties* (including care properties)
• Farms or projects implemented in connection with farms, except for projects in farms where the energy produced is used outside of agricultural production (a farm cannot be an applicant regardless)
• Fisheries and aquaculture enterprises; incl. processing companies
• Establishment projects receiving state subsidy
• Organizations whose operation is financed from state budget
• Agencies, institutions and other bodies belonging to a financial management organization referred to in the State Budget Act (423/1988)

Ensure sufficient self-financing

• Your company must have sufficient financing of its own for the implementation of the project. Adequate financing means that your company can cover the expenses of the entire project before it receives the grant disbursement from Business Finland.
• Business Finland may grant Energy Aid to projects with investment costs of at least EUR 10,000 (energy efficiency investments) or EUR 30,000 (other energy investments, such as renewable energy or utilizing waste heat as district heat). There is no upper limit for the size of the project.

Get these financial matters in order

We cannot grant your company funding if:

• your company is insolvent or has lost half its share capital
• your company has arrears, payment defaults or other outstanding financial obligations from previous Tekes or Business Finland loans.
• your company does not have other (own or external) funding required for the investment or investigation

Read more about the funding terms and conditions

The funding terms and conditions describe the costs that Business Finland can fund, how we monitor your project costs, and how you should report on the progress of your project.

Read more about the funding terms and conditions

Send your application and attachments via our online service. You can also keep track of the processing of your application in the online service. The applicant must appoint a director for its energy investment project from its organization. A contact person, who can be from the applicant's organization or from some other organization of the applicant's choice, must also be appointed for the project.

Go to the online service

Attach to application

APPENDIX 1: Appendix to an investment project application
APPENDIX 2: Appendix to an investigation project (used for energy audits)
APPENDIX 3: Energy aid assessment form
APPENDIX 4: Project plan
APPENDIX 5: Application appendix to the In-depth investigations project

Submit a project plan as part of the application. Attach the plan as a separate file to the application. We cannot grant your company funding, if the project plan does not exist or is vague.

Please detail at least the following items in your project plan:

• A brief description of your organization's activities, ownership, key performance indicators, and description of the property or production process being invested in
• Description, technical specification, and cost specification of the investment
• Objectives of the investment with numerical values and profitability calculation (repayment period)
• Information on the governmental permits related to the investment (e.g., building permit, environmental permit, etc.)

Eligible costs

Business Finland accepts the costs at the earliest from the date of the financing decision. Aid is not granted for projects launched before the aid decision is made.

Eligible project costs are:

• the salaries allocated to the project in accordance with the working time monitoring are only accepted in Motiva-type energy audits, targeted audits (Täsmäkatselmus) and in-depth investigations
• indirect personnel costs (as above)
• travel costs (for investigation projects only)
• costs of materials and supplies
• equipment purchases
• purchased services
• possible costs of an auditor's report

To ensure the effectiveness of the funding, only purchases and work for which a written order or contract has been made after the funding decision has been made can be approved for the project. A purchase ordered for a project prior to the decision to finance the energy subsidy can only be approved if the order agreement or deed of sale contains a condition that the purchase will be cancelled if the financing decision is negative. Even then, the costs are only acceptable from the date of the financing decision.

There is no obstacle to the costs arising from the grant of energy support from the date of the financial decision, if the customer has at the same time pending a larger investment project to be implemented outside the energy support project, which has already been started and in which energy support is applied for a limited part related to the included new technology or energy efficiency measure and this part of the project has not yet been started. There is also no obstacle to the costs incurred from the date of the funding decision to grant the energy subsidy, if the clearing and earthworks related to the investment project have started before the decision to grant the subsidy has been made.

The following costs cannot be accepted as project costs:

• salary and indirect personnel costs
• overheads
• entertainment costs
• banking and financial costs
• voluntary personal insurance
• costs subject to public support, the terms of which prohibit other public support (including the wage costs of a person who has received a start-up grant for the same period)
• wage costs for which pay subsidies have been received
• services involving other public support
• financial, administrative, insurance, repair, maintenance or similar expenditure in respect of purchases made under an installment purchase transaction
• the cost of purchasing office equipment, cars and other similar durable goods
• costs not related to the implementation of the project

In addition, the eligible costs for investment projects do not include a beneficiary's travel costs, interest during construction, cost reserves, connection fees other than those referred to in the funding terms and conditions in section "Equipment purchases", and payments based on Act on Criteria for Charges Payable to the State (150/1992).

Project's schedule

The schedule mentioned in the grant decision must be respected. If the schedule needs to be changed, submit an application to make changes in the project.