Instructions before and during application

Requirements for applying

Make sure that your company has sufficient own funds to carry out the project. Sufficient funding means that your company is able to pay for the entire project itself before it receives the grant paid by Business Finland.

In order to ensure the effectiveness of the funding, as a rule, only procurements and work for which a written order or agreement has been made after the funding decision has been made can be approved for the project. A purchase made for the project before the Energy Aid funding decision has been made can only be approved if the order agreement or contract of sale includes a condition that the procurement will be cancelled if the funding application is rejected. Even then, the costs are only acceptable from the date of the funding decision. Only costs supported by the auditor's report can be accepted, even if they have been incurred after the duration of the project.

Prerequisites for an investment project

Business Finland can grant energy aid for investment projects with investment costs of at least EUR 10,000 (energy efficiency investments) or EUR 30,000 (other energy investments; such as renewable energy). The maximum cost limit for the size of the project is EUR 5,000,000.

Aspects to note about the start date of the investment project

If the customer has an extensive investment project underway, they can apply for energy aid for a limited new technology or energy efficiency sub-package related to it, provided that this limited sub-package has not yet been launched and thus no costs have been incurred from it.

There is no obstacle to the granting of energy aid for costs incurred from the date of the funding decision if the clearance and earthworks related to the investment project have been started before the decision to grant the aid has been made.

Prerequisites for an audit or investigative audit project

The eligible energy audit activities have been carefully instructed. The guidelines are based on the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment's annually confirmed guidelines, which present instructions and requirements related to the implementation and reporting of energy audits, the amount of audit aid and how to apply for audit aid.

The models for audits and surveys to be funded are the property's energy audit, the property's energy audit, the industrial energy audit, the industrial energy analysis and the targeted audit, and the in-depth investigation.

The energy audit and the property's energy review review the current situation of the site's energy and water use and look for saving measures with justifications, savings effects and payback periods. Organizations (e.g. municipalities, parishes and foundations) and companies consuming less than 2,700 MWh/a of energy are eligible for energy audit aid.

In a targeted audit, the desired areas of the site's energy use can be reviewed. Targeted audit aid is available to companies that are part of an energy efficiency agreement and consume less than 2,700 MWh/a, and the municipalities included in the Energy Efficiency Agreement. Municipalities can only carry out targeted audits in connection with the implementation of traditional Motiva-style property audits, in which case the share of targeted audits can be a maximum of 50% of the total number of audits.

With the help of an in-depth investigation, an organization can investigate how to improve the efficiency of its energy use, increase the share of renewable energy use or otherwise make the company's energy use low-carbon. In-depth investigation aid is possible for companies that have joined the energy efficiency agreement and whose annual energy consumption exceeds 2700 megawatt hours. Municipalities and joint municipal authorities that have joined the public sector energy efficiency agreement are also eligible.

More detailed descriptions and instructions can be found on Motiva's website.

Obstacles to granting funding

Learn more about the obstacles to granting and paying funding on the page Funding Obstacles.

Project planning

In order for us to grant funding for the project, the application must include a project plan. You can attach it to the application as a separate file. We cannot grant funding if there is no project plan or if it lacks sufficient detail.

Key contents of the investment project plan

A description of your organization's operations, ownership, key figures, and a description of the property or production process that is the subject of the investment (address, purpose of use, year of construction). Description of the investment and a cost breakdown. In addition, a technical specification of the investment, at least for the main equipment/equipment groups. The total amount or total price of the offer alone is not enough!
The objectives of the investment with numerical values and the profitability calculation (payback period).
Information on the status of official permits related to the investment (e.g. whether a building permit, environmental permit, etc. has been obtained or a matter has been initiated).

Key contents of the project plan for an audit or investigative audit project

A description of your organization's operations, ownership, key figures, and a description of the property or production process under investigation (address, purpose of use, year of construction).
Description of the report and cost breakdown. Please note that the total amount or total price of the offer alone is not enough.

Cost acceptability

The project plan and cost estimate approved by the funder are part of the funding decision and serve as a basis for approving the costs. Eligible costs include expenditure incurred from investment and investigation projects that

have been paid and entered in the accounts of the beneficiary
are in net amount and VAT-exempt
have arisen from the project during the duration of the project (accrual basis, at the earliest on the date of the funding decision)
are necessary and reasonable for the implementation of the project.

Eligible costs of an investment project

Costs of acquisition, installation and commissioning of machinery and equipment
Cost of buildings (only for applications for large demonstration projects of New Energy Technology)
Civil engineering, supervision and connection fees
Earthworks and land acquisition
Preparation and planning costs
Specific costs of monitoring (ESCO)
Possible costs of the auditor's audit report

Costs that are not eligible for an investment project

Salary and indirect personnel costs
Travel costs of the beneficiary
Overheads
Entertainment expenses
Banking and Financing Costs
Voluntary personal insurance
Costs that are subject to public funding whose terms prohibit other public funding (e.g. the salary costs of a person who received a start-up grant for the same period)
Wage costs for which a pay subsidy has been received
Services containing other public funding
Any financing, administration, insurance, repair, maintenance, or equivalent expenditures arising from acquisitions under the terms of a leasing or installment sale
Acquisition costs of office equipment, automobiles and other similar durable goods
Costs not included in the implementation of the project
Cost provisions
Connection fees and fees based on the Act on Criteria for Charges Payable to the State (150/1992)

Eligible costs for an energy audit or investigative audit project

Declared salaries allocated to the project in accordance with the monitoring of working hours
Indirect personnel costs
Travel expenses
Supplies and equipment and machinery rentals
Purchased services
Possible costs of the auditor's audit report

Costs that are not eligible for an energy audit or investigative audit project

Overheads
Entertainment expenses
Banking and Financing Costs
Voluntary personal insurance
Costs that are subject to public funding whose terms prohibit other public funding (e.g. the salary costs of a person who received a start-up grant for the same period)
Wage costs for which a pay subsidy has been received
Services containing other public funding
Any financing, administration, insurance, repair, maintenance, or equivalent expenditures arising from acquisitions under the terms of a leasing or installment sale
Acquisition costs of office equipment, automobiles and other similar durable goods
Costs not included in the implementation of the project

Applying for funding

Send your application and its attachments through the e-service. You can also follow the processing of your application through the e-service.

The applicant must appoint a responsible manager for their energy aid project from the applicant's organization no later than when submitting the application. The person appointed as the responsible project manager is responsible for reporting on the project after a positive funding decision. The person selected as the responsible project manager must be in an employment relationship with the recipient of the funding or have a position of responsibility in the organization.

A contact person is also appointed for the project, who may be from the applicant’s organization or another chosen organization.

Read the funding terms and conditions

In the terms and conditions of funding, we explain what costs Business Finland can fund, how we monitor the costs of your project and how you report on the progress of the project.

the FUNDING terms and conditions

Terms and conditions, support materials and appendices

Terms and support materials

The project is subject to the funding terms and conditions attached to the funding decision. They can be found in the documents of the ongoing project in the e-service.

For the application, you will need these attachments

Need help?

Read the frequently asked questions or contact us!

Contact us

Jussi

Mäkelä

Product Manager, Energy Aid

Timo

Fager

Advisor

Satu

Kuusela

Advisor

Tapani

Saarenpää

Advisor

Start applying once you have read the instructions and support materials

Start applying in the e-service

Back to the energy aid page Instructions after the funding decision

Energy aid instructions before applying