Funding Tip – National Energy Grants & EU funding

We support you in securing public funding from the EU or national instruments (grant, equity, debt). Our goal is to create financial solutions that serve our clients for their entire life-cycle. Public funding includes EU grants and EIB growth loans or Nordic semi-public funding options.  

Do not hesitate to be in touch and we will help you assess the best public funding opportunities for your growth plan! Team contact details can be found here

Open National Energy Grants

Business Finland and the Ministry on Economic Affairs and Employment (TEM) have published the energy grant calls for projects. EUR 250 million is the total budget for 2023. Deadline for RRF call is 26th May 2023.

Currently there are three different open calls targeting SMEs. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment (TEM) will publish its call for large demo projects later this spring and the application deadline is expected for early autumn 2023.

1) Energy investment grants from the RRF and national Sustainable growth plan 

• The Finnish Sustainable Growth and RRF-programs second call for energy investment grants is open for applications until 26th May 2023.  

• Funding is available for: 1) Energy infrastructure investments (budget EUR 61.6 million), and 2) Direct electrification and low carbonisation of industrial processes.

  Detailed application instructions are found here

  • Eligible Energy infrastructure investments:  

    • only projects with eligible costs above EUR 5 million will be considered 

    • distribution and transmission system operators for projects relating to electricity networks and transmission capacity 

    • transmission of low-carbon gases 

    • district heating projects: heat recovery in the district heating system, district heat storage or district heat transmission 

  • Eligible direct electrification and low-carbonisation of industrial processes: 

    • projects with eligible costs EUR 1-5 million can be submitted, however, priority will be given projects with eligible costs larger than EUR 5 million

    • projects contributing to the electrification and decarbonisation of industry, including through heat pump technology, electrification of steam generation and industrial waste heat  

    • projects that improve energy efficiency, for example by using surplus heat from manufacturing industry in production processes or for district heating

2) Business Finland energy grant for investments or energy efficiency plans 

• Business Finland has opened the 2023 energy aid call for applications. The call is open all year, but applications are assessed on a first-come first-serve basis.   

• Funding can be granted for investments and the preparations for projects that promote the production and use of renewable energy, energy saving, more efficient production or utilization of energy, or otherwise contribute to a low-carbon energy system in the long term.  

• The grant is typically 15-30% of investment cost or up to 50% for preparatory work. Funding is granted for costs starting on the date of the grant decision. 

• Project size: there is no upper limit on the size of investment costs. The investment costs must be min. EUR 10 000 for energy efficiency projects or min. EUR 30 000 (investment in renewable energy and other low-carbon investments, or use of waste heat as part of district heating). 

• Sector and size of the applicant: Companies of any size can apply. The grant is not intended for companies in agriculture, fishery/aquaculture, or housing companies. 

• The updated 2023 regulation will increase the focus on funding new technology projects: 

  • Priority will be given to new technology projects, e.g., new solutions that have not been used in Finland before and are key to long-term energy and climate goals. Typically, these are (one of) the first commercial implementations. 

  • Conventional technology projects can be supported on a discretionary basis, with priority given to well-prepared projects and carefully prepared applications. 

Read more about the program & eligibility here 

3) Grant for SMEs to study means to improve energy and carbon efficiency  

• SME companies can apply for a national grant until 31st December 2023 to carry out a review of means to improve its energy and carbon efficiency an SME. The grant is 40% for SMEs or 50% if the SME is a party to the energy efficiency agreement. 

• In the review, the SME is to analyse its energy use, energy saving potential, potential to increase the share of renewable energy use and it shall propose feasible energy saving measures

• The review must aim to improve energy efficiency and savings, increase the use of renewable energy, or achieve lower carbon emissions from its energy use

• The review cannot include research and product development, or work related its normal operations (new venture or expansion actions, feasibility assessments, business development or marketing etc.)

• The review must be completed by 30 April 2024

Open EU funding opportunities: Grant, Equity and Debt  

We support both large and small companies with innovation funding. We are now looking for project partners for the autumn 2023 calls. We help you understand what innovations you can fund through EU grants and other public and private growth funding sources. 

Thematic areas are Green Transition & Sustainability, Circularity & Bioeconomy, Industrial innovations for global competitiveness, Deep Tech, Marine & Transport, Health (MedTech, Life Sciences), Space and Defense etc. 

Available funding covers projects along the entire development curve, from research and demo to commercialisation and scale-up. EU grant funding is typically 0,5-2,5 M€ per company or up to 5-10 M€ for collaborative projects.  

Expansion funding (debt/equity) is typically up to 10-50+ M€ per project (expansion funding is for individual applicants only). We have in recent years secured ca 200 M€ of public expansion funding for ambitious scale-up companies in the green transition or tech sectors. 

Funding instruments include: Horizon Europe (EIC Accelerator, EIC Transition, EIC Pathfinder, Thematic Priorities (RIAs, IAs and CSAs)), CINEA (Innovation Fund, LIFE), Eureka Eurostars and EIB growth finance or venture debt.  

Open EU funding opportunities:  

• Eureka CELTIC-NEXT: Digital & sustainable society enabling ICT projects, deadline May 24th  

Eureka CELTIC-NEXT and Business Finland supports international collaborative R&D projects in the information and communications technology (ICT) domain. The open call supports next generation communications projects for digital society that contribute to a sustainable world. Participation is open to companies of all sizes, universities and research organisations. The funding is provided by Business Finland. Application deadline is May 24th, 2023 

• EU grants for individual companies and consortia projects, deadline autumn 2023:

  We are currently looking for SMEs and other partners (SMEs, large companies, universities) to prepare EU innovation projects for the autumn 2023 deadlines. Do not hesitate to be in touch so we can assess your fit for our projects! Below more info about consortia funding opportunities (international collaborative projects) 

• Business Finland covers EU project planning expenses:

  Business Finland can provide funding for up to 75% of the costs related to larger EU project preparations (Horizon Europe and European Defence Fund (EDF) projects) - e.g. for partner search and project ideation.   

What are Horizon Europe and other EU thematic consortia opportunities and how do we help? 

EU grant programs offer good innovation funding opportunities for SMEs or large companies 

EU funding for research, innovation development and first-of-a-kind industrial demonstrations or roll-out is provided from multiple different EU programs. Typically, a specific technical challenge of EU wide strategic importance has a set one-off deadline. Some programs have annual calls.   

We are currently looking for potential partners (SMEs, large companies, universities) to prepare innovation projects for the autumn 2023 deadlines. Do not hesitate to be in touch so we can assess your fit for our projects! 
 
We help you access these grants (up to 100% funding for R&D and demonstration activities) in two ways: 

1. If your company provides a key technology under the call objectives, we can help you design a high-impact innovation project and find suitable international partners. 

2. If your company or technology works in the field, and you are interested in participating in a collaborative project, please be in touch with us and we can connect you to international projects being prepared for these calls.  

Thematic priority areas: Green Transition, Decarbonization & Sustainability, Circularity & Bioeconomy, Industrial innovations for global competitiveness, Deep Tech, Marine & Transport, Health (MedTech, Life Sciences, Cancer), Space and Defense etc. 

Eligibility: The consortia shall include industrial representatives from the entire value chain, and participation of universities and RTOs. Participation of SMEs and innovative new technologies is encouraged. Any organization type is eligible: SMEs, large companies, universities, RTOs, associations etc.  

Number of partners:  Companies can apply as part of an international consortia typically with 10-20 members depending on the project size (the minimum requirement is 3 partners from 3 different countries). The consortia shall include industrial representatives from the entire value chain, and participation of universities and RTOs. Participation of SMEs and innovative new technologies is encouraged. 

Project size: Project size vary, typically between 5-10M€ but there are several larger project opportunities each year.  

Grant funding rate: The funding rate is typically 100% for research & prototype stage projects, (TRL 1-4) and 70% for innovation development and demonstration stage projects (TRL 4-6). An additional +25% on internal expenses is provided to cover indirect cost. 

Are you interested in applying for EU grants for R&D and innovation? The European Commission has recently published guidelines on mistakes to avoid when preparing an application.  

Contact

If you would like to discuss about financing for your company or portfolio company, please feel free to contact our experts. You can find our team's contact details here.

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