progres.nrw – Geothermal drilling risk support

• Companies can apply regardless of legal form or ownership. Cities, municipalities, districts, their associations and special-purpose municipal bodies can apply for studies and seismic surveys, but not drilling. All funded work must be in North Rhine-Westphalia. Commercial applicants must confirm that the work belongs to their main commercial activity.
• Grants must exceed €12,500 for the municipal sector and €2,000 for other applicants. You must have budgeted the contribution you will pay yourself. There is no entitlement to funding; awards depend on the available budget and NRW.BANK's decision.
• A feasibility study must build on a preliminary study meeting the guideline's minimum contents. Surveys and exploration drilling need that preliminary study and the first six feasibility sections: introduction, geological evaluation, environmental assessment, permit assessment, public participation and exploration planning. Exploration drilling also needs a reasoned explanation why 3D surveying would be uninformative or disproportionate. Productive drilling needs a complete feasibility study and geological model based on 3D or denser 2D data; qualifying exploration drilling may instead be accepted following a positive ministry assessment.
• Preliminary and feasibility studies must be independent and supplier-neutral. Use an adviser who can demonstrate paid specialist advice on medium-deep or deep geothermal projects in the preceding two years and business activity in that field during that period.
• Wait for the award before starting each activity. Binding orders and supply or service contracts count as starting work; land purchases and permit preparation do not. The FAQ treats a contract with a clear written right to withdraw if funding is refused as avoiding an unconditional commitment. Submit a separate application for each activity.
• You cannot combine this support with funding from North Rhine-Westphalia, another German state, the federal government or the EU. The application also requires confirmation that no other public funding for the same measure has been applied for or awarded.
• Companies in financial difficulty, including insolvency grounds or pending insolvency applications, are excluded, as are companies with unfulfilled EU aid-recovery orders, sectors excluded under the EU state-aid rules known as AGVO, and sanctioned applicants.
• Higher small or medium-sized company rates require the EU SME classification and the corresponding declaration, including partner and linked companies. Companies at least 25% controlled by public bodies generally do not qualify as SMEs. For the small-company rate, you need fewer than 50 employees and annual turnover or balance-sheet total no higher than €10 million. For the medium-company rate, the limits are fewer than 250 employees and turnover no higher than €50 million or balance-sheet total no higher than €43 million. Count employees as annual full-time equivalents and account for linked and partner companies. Size changes normally require two consecutive accounting years; ownership changes can affect status immediately. The public-ownership rule has exceptions for government investment or venture-capital bodies, eligible institutional investors, non-profit universities or research centres, and autonomous public authorities with annual budgets below €10 million and fewer than 5,000 inhabitants, provided those investors are not linked to the applicant, individually or together, through control of the company, such as majority voting rights or the power to appoint most of its management.
• Costs of legally required or officially ordered measures, planning-approval procedures and recoverable VAT are excluded. Existing staff costs are excluded. Project staff must be hired or have a fixed-term contract renewed after the award, work on the project during the funded implementation period, and be supported by actual hours, salary and payment records; the applicable public-pay ceiling must be respected.

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• Awards depend on available budget. The funding guideline is valid through 30 June 2027.

NRW.BANK administers applications. For seismic surveys and either drilling stage, first send the official project-sketch template to bearbeitungssteuerung@nrwbank.de. NRW.BANK sends it to the ministry, MWIKE, for assessment and contacts you afterwards. Submit the full application and attachments when requested after this stage.

Apply digitally through NRW.BANK's Kundenportal for companies or Kommunenportal for municipalities. For studies, provide three adviser quotations or document your market search if fewer are available. Include a cooperation agreement for intermunicipal work, and the work, timetable and expenditure plan for surveys or drilling. Productive-drilling applications also need a binding repayment assurance.

Studies are paid in one instalment after completion and examination of your proof of use. Surveys and drilling allow up to three reimbursement draws against paid invoices and eligible expenditure. Keep invoice and payment evidence and submit the proof of use by the end of the award period. The usual periods are 15 months for preliminary studies, 18 months for feasibility studies and 30 months for surveys or drilling; your award specifies the actual period. Request an extension before it expires if needed.

The award can be revoked if substantial work has not started within six months of award notification; binding project orders covering at least 20% of eligible total expenditure count as substantial. Report changes to material application or use-of-funds facts immediately in writing to NRW.BANK. False information can lead to recovery with interest. The application requires consent for NRW.BANK to share project data with Geologischer Dienst NRW and to make all data obtained through the project available to it within three months after completion for publication.

For multiyear work governed by ANBest-P grant conditions, if you receive payments during implementation, submit the annual interim proof of use, progress report and expenditure list by 30 April for the preceding financial year. Municipal recipients governed by ANBest-G are exempt from this interim report.