Commercial heating and cooling supply
Investment grants support renewable and waste-heat generation, heat and cooling networks, micro-networks and efficiency improvements at project sites in Austria. Apply before making a binding commitment.
The Austrian Commercial Heating and Cooling Supply programme (Gewerbliche Wärme- und Kälteversorgung) brings four grant modules together. Kommunalkredit Public Consulting (KPC) administers the federal funding. The grant normally does not have to be repaid if the project and contractual conditions are met; it contributes to eligible investment costs rather than covering operating expenses.
Choose the module for the work you plan:
- Module 1 — generation: renewable heat or recovered waste heat supplied to a district-heating network, or eligible cooling generation for a district-cooling network. Heat generation must supply additional heat customers or displace existing fossil generation, including peak-load or reserve equipment. Fossil displacement can qualify under Module 1 without expanding the network or adding customers. The heat route generally requires at least ten external customers and annual heat sales of at least 800 MWh; waste-heat recovery has the sales threshold but no customer-count condition. The network and other Module 1 conditions still apply.
- Module 2 — networks: new or extended heat and cooling distribution. The usual heat thresholds are ten external customers and 800 MWh a year. The lower-renewable-share category called “climate-friendly” district heating uses this module from two customers, regardless of sales volume. Waste-heat transport is judged on the 800 MWh threshold. Adding connections within an existing network without the relevant expansion belongs to the separate network-densification offer.
- Module 3 — micro-networks: heat generation and distribution between separate buildings of one business, without selling heat, or external heat supply to at least two customers where there are at most nine customers or annual sales below 800 MWh. Waste-heat projects use the sales-volume test. Internal networks must primarily serve business use; their inter-building pipes must not already exist when applying, except for biomass combined heat and power.
- Module 4 — optimisation: efficiency improvements to existing renewable or waste-heat generators, or existing heat networks, supplying third parties without additional customers or heat sales. A qualifying replacement of fossil generation follows the Module 1 route above even when the customers and network stay the same. The applicant must operate the generator or network. An optimisation normally needs at least a 5% reduction in total energy input. Pure generator replacement instead requires higher overall efficiency; for a combined replacement/optimisation project, the predominant cost determines which test applies. New generators must be no larger than the replaced units.
The main base grant rates are 30% for heat generation, micro-networks and most optimisation; 30% for high-temperature heat networks and 35% for low-temperature networks. The “climate-friendly” network category and cooling generation/networks start at 20%. Module-specific bonuses can increase these rates within the applicable aid ceiling. Heat measures generally require at least €30,000 in eligible investment; cooling generation and networks require at least €100,000.
Bonuses depend on the module: heat recovery or lower network losses, specified shares of waste heat/heat pumps/geothermal/solar heat, or faster network decarbonisation can qualify. In Module 3, separate five-percentage-point bonuses cover qualifying heat recovery, at least 15% of the listed emission-free heat sources, and at least 80% regional biomass energy from within 50 km, excluding pellets. These are conditional additions, not guaranteed cumulative rates. Austrian municipalities in Module 3 receive 60% of the calculated business grant, not 60% of project cost; municipal operations qualifying as market businesses use the business rules.
Most modules cap the grant at €6 million per project; the internal micro-network route caps it at €4.5 million. Further limits include the public contribution actually needed and, for heat generation/micro-networks, €1,500 per tonne of annual CO₂ savings; heat distribution uses €2,250. KPC calculates the savings and final grant. A project must normally have a payback period of at least three years without the grant. Planning costs are generally limited to 10% of eligible tangible investment.
Eligibility
Businesses and other economically active organisations, associations and religious organisations can apply. Non-Austrian companies can qualify, but the investment site must be in Austria. Austrian municipalities can apply under the specific Module 3 rules. Public bodies carrying out market-based operations must meet the published requirements for cost recovery, full accounts and operational independence. Private individuals are excluded.
Heat generation generally must feed a highly efficient network: at least 90% of energy from renewables, qualifying high-efficiency combined heat and power, otherwise-unused waste heat, or their combination, with at most 10% for other peak-load or reserve energy. Waste-heat recovery can also feed a “climate-friendly” network. That category requires at least 50% renewable energy or waste heat,75% combined-heat-and-power heat, or 50% of a combination. The FAQ retains a specific exception for generators in previously supported networks funded before 1 July 2024 with more than 80% renewable heat, where the new measure increases the renewable share.
Check the local network situation: heat installations/networks normally require no existing network supply or compatibility with municipal energy planning. Internal micro-networks can also qualify where a district-heat connection is technically impossible or the renewable alternative costs at least 25% less to install. Cooling networks serve areas without an existing cooling network. Heat-network projects with 50–90% renewable energy need a documented path to at least 60% renewable energy by 2030 and 80% by 2035, with annual records. The faster-decarbonisation bonus requires those levels by 2027 and 2032. At least 50% of planned heat sales must be supported by supply contracts or letters of intent; cooling sales normally need contracts, with a documented potential analysis possible in justified cases.
Technology conditions matter. Heat pumps use renewable electricity and refrigerants with global-warming potential below 1,500; their annual heat-output-to-electricity-input ratio must be at least 2.5 in Modules 1/4 and 3.8 in Module 3. The FAQ makes a specific exception in Modules 1/4 for absorption heat pumps used with biomass heating plants as boiler heat recovery or efficiency improvement: in that situation, the heat-pump criteria do not apply. Biomass combined heat and power requires more than 50 kW electrical capacity, at least 80% annual efficiency and 4,000 full-load hours, at least 80% of electricity used on site and at least 80% of heat used on site or in an eligible district network. Internal micro-networks require that heat to be used on site. Biomass boilers must meet the module's emissions and test-report rules. Solar collectors need the specified certification; geothermal systems need test-drilling evidence and reinjection. Power-to-heat installations are excluded by the FAQ.
New cooling generators must use renewable electricity or waste heat, use refrigerant below 750 global-warming potential and serve additional customers. Compression chillers must feed at least 50% of their waste heat into district heating. At commissioning, the cooling mix must reach at least 50% renewables or waste heat, 75% combined-heat-and-power heat, or 50% of their combination. The documented renewable-energy trajectory requires 60% by 2030 and 80% by 2035 where applicable. Cooling networks need at least 1,000 kWh of annual sales per route metre; ordinary replacement of old cooling pipes is excluded unless a justified capacity expansion is involved.
Fossil equipment, ordinary repairs and replacement of non-functioning equipment are not eligible costs. Simultaneous support under Austria's Renewable Energy Expansion Act (EAG) is prohibited, including the stated market-premium and bidding advantages. Existing installations supplying electricity or heat to third parties and covered by EU emissions trading are excluded. For other existing industrial/commercial ETS installations, the separate environmental-investment cost ceiling is €2 million. For leasing or hire purchase, the asset must pass into the recipient’s ownership by the final instalment; payment of the grant is limited to instalments and deposits actually paid, excluding interest and charges. In contracting, the applicant is the party owning and capitalising the asset, with additional conditions protecting the customer’s benefit and environmental performance. These financing arrangements are excluded where the project receives EU co-financing.
How to apply
- Status
- Dates not announced
Use KPC's programme page to choose the module and open its online application. Apply before the earliest binding equipment order, delivery, construction start or other irreversible commitment; for leasing/contracting, apply before signing that agreement as well. If building both generation and a distribution network, submit separate Module 1 and Module 2 applications. Starting after KPC confirms receipt is at your own financial risk until approval.
Prepare the module's technical sheet, cost breakdown, relevant permits, energy-supply information and customer contracts. A bank report is generally needed above €500,000 investment; for the specified ERDF-co-financed heat routes the threshold is €50,000. Qualifying larger heat projects must use the QM-Heizwerke quality-management process and reach milestone 2 before assessment. The qualified adviser requirement has an exception for applicants with three successfully completed qualifying projects; waste-heat and climate-friendly networks have the stated database exceptions. Biomass heat networks serving at least ten properties with more than 90% biomass heat also need a separate provincial co-financing application, split 60% federal/40% provincial support.
KPC assesses the complete project and funding calculation, sends its proposal for comment, and the commission recommends approval to the federal minister. Accept the approved contract through the online platform. The module sheets require implementation within 18 months of contract issue unless a technical exception is agreed. Follow the contractual deadline; the programme page asks for final settlement within six months after that completion date, with invoices, payment evidence and the required comparison offers.
Keep the installation operating for at least ten years and maintain the environmental performance, records and access for inspections. Notify KPC of significant changes and ownership transfers. Breach, failure to deliver the environmental result or missing required evidence can lead to repayment of some or all of the grant with interest.