Fifth application round for energy investments under Finnish RRP

The aim of the aid scheme is to promote energy investment and energy infrastructure projects that are in line with Finland’s Recovery and Resilience plan and that reduce greenhouse gas emissions as well as support Finland’s carbon neutrality target. Another objective is to reduce the technological and economic risks associated with investments in energy infrastructure.

Finland’s Recovery and Resilience Plan is the national plan for utilising the funding from the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF). The Plan is part of the Sustainable Growth Programme.

Call for applications for energy infrastructure projects

The fifth application round under Finland’s Recovery and Resilience Plan focus on energy infrastructure projects. In this application round, only energy infrastructure projects with eligible cost of over 5 million can be accepted. The reserved amount of aid consists of previously unused aid of approximately 35 million euros.

Aid can be granted for:

electricity grids and electricity transmission capacity;
investments to integrate energy systems and produce, transmit and utilise surplus and waste heat in district heating networks;
transport of low-carbon gases, including hydrogen, biogas and biomethane.

The granting of aid will be based on a comparison of applications by investment type. The overall assessment will evaluate the effectiveness of the investment against the objectives set out in Finland’s Recovery and Resilience plan.

In particular, the comparison will examine

impacts on energy and emissions,
cost-effectiveness,
feasibility,
novelty value of the technology included in the projects,
replicability of a technology or project, and
other effects of the projects.

Aid may be granted to companies and other entities such as municipalities, but only to projects or parts of projects that would not be launched without the energy aid. The projects or a certain part of the project to be financed by the grant may not start before the submission of the aid application.

Aid will not be granted to housing companies, residential properties or farms, or any projects related to these.

Eligibility criteria

The supported projects must comply with the technical guidelines of the “Do No Significant Harm” principle (2021/C58/01). Projects cannot include activities specified in the exclusion list of the Annex to the Council Implementing Decision (2021/0317). The projects must comply with European Union and national environmental legislation. More detailed information is available in the application instructions.

The projects must be finished by 30th of June 2026. The granting and use of aid is also subject to other specific conditions and obligations imposed on the beneficiary, which are set out in the Government Decree and described in more detail in the application guidelines.

Granting of aid is based on Government Decree 1112/2021.

The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment has to make the grant decisions by autumn 2024 at the latest, which means that the time for processing applications will be shorter than normal. Aid can only be granted to projects whose applications are carefully prepared and projects must be launched quickly. The projects receiving aid must be finished by 30th of June 2026.

How to apply

For the fifth round, applications must be submitted no later than 15th of May 2024 at 16:15.
The funding applications can be submitted through the Business Finland’s online service. The application can be submitted from the 15th of April 2024 onwards.

Business Finland’s online service support is available on weekdays at 9.00–11.00 and 12.00–15.00 at +358 29 469 5800.

Funding can be applied via the “Energiatuki –investointihanke” application. Under the ”RRF – Suomen kestävän kasvun ohjelma”, please select ”RRF – Energiainvestointituki”. A separate RRF support application form must accompany the application as well as other annexes mentioned in the application form according to the guidelines.

The application form and its annexes must be submitted in Finnish or Swedish. Material other than that requested in the instructions must not be submitted.

The call for applications is opened by a parliament condition. The authorisation for grant decisions is included in the government’s 2024 supplementary budget.

Additional information can be found at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment’s website: RRF energy investment aid projects granted aid.

Inquiries:
Irene Heikkilä, Senior Specialist, tel. +358 295 047 158
Daniela Karlsson, Senior Specialist, tel. +358 295 047 371
Email addresses are in the format [email protected]