North Cork Fine Gael Councillor John Paul O’Shea has urged businesses to contact their Local Enterprise Office (LEO) and to avail of a new grant which is now available to businesses to make them more energy efficient.
The Energy Efficiency Grant supports the investment in technologies and new equipment for businesses. The aim of the scheme is to reduce the impact of enterprises on the environment thereby increasing the agility and resilience of the business.
Welcoming the Energy Efficiency Grant, Cllr. O’Shea said “This is an ideal opportunity for local businesses to future proof their business by availing of grant aid for new technologies and new equipment for their business. It is vital businesses prepare for the future and ensure they can continue into the future. The grant aid available is 50% of eligible costs from a minimum grant aid of €1,000 up to a maximum grant of €5,000 per application. There is a limit of 1 grant approval per enterprise”.
You must have completed one of the following reports in order to apply for the Energy Efficiency grant & provide the relevant report to the LEO office:
- Green for Micro
- GreenStart or
- Recent energy audit by a SEAI registered energy auditor.
If you wish to apply for a Green for Micro Consultancy / report please apply here:
https://www.localenterprise.ie/CorkNorthandWest/Financial-Supports/Green-For-Business/ and the LEO Office will set up a Green adviser for you.
Who is Eligible for Energy Grant:
- small enterprises (employing between 1 and 50)*
- who have undertaken a Green for Micro, GreenStart or recent energy audit by a SEAI registered energy auditor and who are not currently clients of Enterprise Ireland/ID
- who are established, registered, and operate within the area of the Local Enterprise Office.
- where the turnover is in excess of €30,000 annually and the business is trading in excess of 6 months
*except those involved in activities that the Local Enterprise Offices consider as ineligible (primary agricultural, fishery or aquaculture, coal and steel sectors) and those involving an unacceptable reputational risk including gambling, ‘gaming’ (as defined in the Gaming and Lotteries Act 1956), adult entertainment, tobacco products and cannabis-based products which are not authorised as medicines).
Eligible Costs:
- Meters (electricity, gas, diesel, oil, water, steam & loggers) and installation costs
- Smart energy controls e.g., heating, cooling, lighting, automatic on/off systems, parasitic load controls
- Upgrade lighting to LED (only as part of a package of eligible cost measures)
- Replacement/upgrade with more energy efficient system, e.g. Heat Pumps (including air, water, and ground source) for manufacturing heating processes
- Heat recovery
- Small wind & hydro subject to feasibility assessment
- Equipment (>10 years) replacement/upgrade such as refrigeration unit, electric steam boiler, electric oven, industrial dishwasher, engineering equipment
- System components upgrades such as variable speed drives, pumps, fans, condensers, extraction systems, cold room doors
- *Products for which the investment is applied for should be registered as Triple E or equivalent.
Ineligible Costs:
- Solar panels; a Solar PV grant is available under SEAI Non-Domestic Microgen Scheme
- Biomass boilers, Anaerobic Digestors; SEAI Support Scheme for Renewable Heat provides operational support to biomass heating systems and anaerobic digestion heating systems
- Insulation, Heat pumps for space heating; support is available under SEAI Sustainable Energy Communities and SEAI Support Scheme for Renewable Heat
- Activities related to fossil fuel e.g., fossil fuel condenser boiler
- Software platform costs, specifically for subscription and on-going support and maintenance costs.
For more details on the Energy Efficiency Grant, please email Jamie Cuthbert at jamie.cuthbert@LEO.corkcoco.ie
You can apply online here: https://leo.submit.com/show/24
More Information here: https://www.localenterprise.ie/CorkNorthandWest/Financial-Supports/Energy-Efficiency-Grant/
