The German government has set itself ambitious targets for increasing energy efficiency. These were confirmed with the adoption of the National Action Plan for Energy Efficiency (NAPE). In order to achieve these objectives, it has set up an Energy Efficiency Fund to promote the rational and economical use of energy, on the basis of which, inter alia, the promotion of highly efficient cross-cutting technologies is envisaged. With their help, the existing savings potentials are to be tapped and resources are to be saved.
The current directive on the use of highly efficient cross-sectional technologies was published in the Federal Gazette on 10 May 2016. The funding programme will be continued until the end of 2019.
Improvements through the new funding directive
The following significant changes have occurred since the subsidy directive expired on 31 December 2015:
- Large companies with 500 or more employees are now also eligible to apply.
- Applications can now also be granted under Article 38 of the GBER
- From now on also new acquisitions are eligible for funding
- Additional heat recovery and waste heat recovery measures as well as insulation of industrial plants or plant components are eligible for funding.
- The prerequisite for funding in the optimisation of technical systems is now only the optimisation of a single cross-sectional technology.
- The funding ceiling of 30,000 euros for individual measures now refers to the maximum amount of funding, no longer to the maximum eligible expenses.
- The maximum funding amount for applications with industrial pump systems was increased to 150,000 euros.
- Pumps used in heating circuits of buildings to supply heat and hot water (individual measures) and investments to renew lighting systems (optimisation of technical systems) will no longer be funded.