Large district heating connection grant

Businesses and other organisations carrying on economic activities, associations, religious bodies, public-law bodies and Austrian municipalities can apply. Foreign companies can apply for investments at Austrian business sites. Private individuals and purely residential projects are excluded. Farmers qualify only where the project is not eligible for agricultural funding. Federal subordinate departments and work fulfilling sovereign federal administrative duties are excluded.

• The connection must provide at least 100 kW and serve mainly business use. For premises with both business and residential use, more than 50% of the heated gross floor area must be used for business; subordinate residential portions can also be supported. New buildings and connections replacing an existing renewable heating system are excluded.
• Your heat network must meet one of two tests. A climate-friendly network supplies at least 50% renewable energy or waste heat, 75% heat from combined heat and power, or 50% from a combination of these sources. A highly efficient network supplies at least 90% renewable energy, highly efficient combined heat and power under Directive 2012/27/EU, otherwise unused waste heat, or a combination. Other systems may supply up to 10% for peak demand and backup. These tests concern the network's heat sources, so the heat supplier's energy mix determines which test your connection meets.
• You must make the investment and appear on invoices as the invoice or service recipient. Leasing and contracting have an exception to this invoice rule. Only components within your property boundary and owned by the grant recipient qualify, subject to the financed-ownership arrangements below.
• With leasing, hire purchase or contracting, provide the agreement and proof of payments before payout. Ownership must pass to the recipient by the final instalment. Apply before signing the financing agreement or ordering components, whichever happens first. These arrangements are available only for nationally funded projects and are excluded if the project receives EU co-financing.
• Under contracting, the party that owns and records the equipment on its balance sheet applies. If that is the contractor, both contractor and customer must meet the programme's target-group rules; the contractor must guarantee the environmental benefit for the full grant-contract period and pass the grant advantage recognisably to the customer. For customer-owned contracting, leasing and hire purchase, payout is limited to payments already made by final accounting, excluding interest and fees. The customer's company data determine the calculation.
• A territorial authority applying through a business with market-based activity must recover more than 50% of its costs under the European System of Accounts, keep complete accounts including assets and liabilities, and have substantial freedom over its main function established by a municipal organisational resolution. If disputed, the applicant must obtain confirmation from the municipal supervisory authority. Municipalities can also apply directly for district heating connections at the municipal grant level.
• For equipment covered by the EU emissions trading system, only measures at existing industrial or commercial equipment or processes with environmental investment costs no greater than €2 million qualify. ETS equipment generating heat or electricity for third parties is excluded. The Erneuerbaren-Ausbau-Gesetz (EAG) is Austria’s renewable-energy support legislation. Equipment already receiving a tariff or investment subsidy under it is excluded from this environmental grant. Separately, you cannot use EAG support and environmental funding simultaneously, including using environmental funding to obtain market premiums or participate in bidding procedures.

Federal and regional grants can be combined up to the EU state-aid ceiling. Apply separately to the region if KPC does not administer that regional supplement. For this lump-sum grant, the assessment of payback time and grant need is made at offer level rather than individually for each project.

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Apply online through Kommunalkredit Public Consulting (KPC) at the district heating application route. Submit a complete application before the first binding order other than planning, delivery, construction start or other irreversible investment commitment, whichever comes first. Incomplete applications must be rejected. Keep written evidence of the order date, including supplier confirmation for a telephone order.

Provide the technical and cost details required by the online form. A bank report is required when investment exceeds €500,000. It describes company size, finances, ownership and project financing, even if you are not borrowing. KPC also requests it if EU co-financing is used or if the project is the applicant's main business activity. Show that prices are reasonable through offers at application and at least one comparison offer for each major equipment or cost item at final accounting.

You may start after KPC receives the application, but there is no entitlement to a grant until you receive the grant contract. Complete the project within 18 months of the contract's issue; exceptions require technical justification. Report changes promptly in writing before approval and obtain KPC's consent to significant changes during implementation. Follow applicable public procurement rules and retain the required records.

Before payout, submit a valid heat supply contract showing connection capacity and any required proof of financing payments. Submit final accounts within one year after completion, operate the funded equipment for at least ten years and retain records for at least ten years from grant award. Failure to comply with the grant contract can lead to recovery of funding.