New Funding Guidelines for Efficiency Promotion in Business

Adjusted funding conditions for EEW grants and loans, as well as higher funding amounts per project

On February 15, 2024, the new funding guidelines for the Bundesförderung für Energie- und Ressourceneffizienz in der Wirtschaft (EEW) came into force, which include a simplified competition procedure and higher funding amounts for transformation plans.

The funding rates for funding modules 1 to 4 have been reduced. At the same time, however, the maximum funding amount per project in modules 2 to 4 has been increased from €15 million to €20 million. In addition, funding for all modules and the funding competition will in future be based on the total investment costs. The time-consuming calculation of a reference investment to determine the additional investment costs will therefore no longer be necessary. In addition, an interest rate reduction will be introduced for loans with a repayment subsidy.

Module 4 “Energy and resource-related optimization of equipment and processes” is now divided into three stages:

1. basic funding,
2. premium funding and
3. premium funding including a decarbonization bonus.

Small and medium-sized enterprises can receive funding for certain technical systems via the basic funding without having to draw up a comprehensive savings concept. To be eligible for funding, the system replacement must achieve final energy savings of at least 15%. Premium funding can also be claimed by large companies, but requires a GHG reduction of at least 30%. In addition, the maximum funding amount is limited to a fixed amount per quantity of emissions. For selected measures, such as the use of green hydrogen, off-site waste heat recovery or the electrification of processes with renewable electricity, the funding rate is increased by 5% as part of the decarbonization bonus. Biomass combustion plants are excluded from Module 4.The maximum funding in premium funding is limited to €1,600/2,200/2,600 per tonne of CO2 saved (for large/medium/small companies).

Measures under Module 4 can still be submitted as an alternative via the funding competition and receive funding of up to €20 million or up to 60% of the eligible costs. The competition takes place in two steps: In the first step, an outline of the planned project is submitted to the relevant funding body. After a successful review by the funding agency, the application can be submitted in the second step using the “easy-Online” form system. The measures with the highest funding efficiency are funded until the round budget is reached. This is €40 million per competition round. The funding rate can be chosen up to a maximum of 60%. The first of six rounds for 2024, each lasting two months, started on February 15, 2024.

In Module 5 “Transformation Plan” (formerly “Transformation Concepts”), the maximum funding amounts will be increased from €50,000 to €60,000. Members of an IEEKN network will continue to receive a funding rate increased by 10 percentage points and the maximum funding amount will rise from €80,000 to €90,000 per project.

In Module 6 “Electrification of small companies”, small companies will continue to receive a funding rate of 33% or a maximum of €200,000 per project.

An overview of the applicable funding rates (in relation to the total investment costs) can be found in the following table:An overview of the new funding rates can be found in the following table:

More information

• Climate neutral companies – developing an actionable GHG reduction strategy
• Dekarbonisierungsnetzwerk – dekarbN