24 applications received for energy investment aid under Finland’s Recovery and Resilience Plan – Decisions to be made during autumn
By 26 May 2023, 24 new applications were received in the second application round for energy investment aid under Finland’s Recovery and Resilience Plan. Funding is available for energy infrastructure projects and the electrification and decarbonisation of industrial processes.
The amount of aid applied in this round totalled more than EUR 205 million. In addition, applications submitted in previous calls for applications for which no decisions have yet been made will be processed in this round. The funding available totals approximately EUR 93.4 million, which is the amount still unused from the energy investment aid under Finland’s Recovery and Resilience Plan.
The aid programme aims to reduce Finland’s greenhouse gas emissions, support Finland’s carbon neutrality targets and encourage businesses and, in particular, industry to replace fossil fuels with green energy.
A total of 86 applications were received in the first application round for energy investment aid under Finland’s Recovery and Resilience Plan in winter 2022. Of them, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment granted EUR 328 million in investment aid to 36 projects in three instalments (Oct/22, Dec/22 and Feb/23). In addition, Business Finland has granted a total of EUR 61.3 million to two clean hydrogen IPCEI projects.
All aid decisions to be made in autumn 2023
The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment will make aid decisions for projects where the eligible costs exceed EUR 5 million. Meanwhile, Business Finland will make aid decisions for projects related to electrification and decarbonisation of industrial processes where the eligible costs are less than EUR 5 million. The Ministry and Business Finland aim to make all aid decisions during this autumn.
The granting of aid will be based on overall consideration and comparison of projects. The evaluation will consider the project’s
• impacts on energy and emissions,
• cost-effectiveness,
• feasibility,
• replicability of a technology or project, and
• other effects.
The applications must also comply with the “do no significant harm” principle, meaning that the implementation of investments must not cause significant harm to environmental objectives. The projects must be completed by 30 June 2026.
Inquiries:
Pekka Grönlund, Senior Ministerial Adviser, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, tel. +358 295 064 815 (firstname.lastname(at)gov.fi)
Salla Palander, Specialist, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, tel. +358 295 047 049, firstname.lastname(at)gov.fi