Business low-carbon cooling grant
A closed investment grant for businesses and organisations replacing process refrigeration or installing renewable-heat, waste-heat or free cooling systems.
Questa opportunità è attualmente disponibile in inglese.
This offer closed on 30 June 2025. Applications submitted by then are still handled under the applicable funding terms.
The May 2025 terms covered heat-driven adsorption and absorption chillers using renewable energy, such as biomass or solar thermal energy, or industrial waste heat. They also covered free cooling, for example using groundwater, river water or well water, and replacement or optimisation of existing process refrigeration with low-impact refrigerants. Equipment, planning and installation costs could qualify.
The grant was a one-off payment that did not normally have to be repaid. The base rate was 15% of eligible investment costs directly producing the environmental benefit. The grant was limited to €750 per tonne of annual CO₂ savings, the investment grant needed as stated in the online application, and €4.5 million per project. EMAS-certified companies could receive a five-percentage-point bonus, limited to €10,000 and the applicable state-aid ceiling. EMAS is an environmental-management and audit scheme in which registered organisations participate voluntarily.
Funding could be combined with grants from Austria’s federal states. The application also requested European Regional Development Fund co-financing, which KPC assessed rather than guaranteed.
Eligibility
The offer accepted businesses, other organisations carrying out commercial activities, associations and religious organisations. Investment was for business-site cooling in Austria.
- Investment costs had to be at least €10,000, with annual CO₂ savings of at least four tonnes. Kommunalkredit Public Consulting (KPC) calculated the savings when assessing the project. The equipment had to be used predominantly for business purposes.
- Replacing existing process refrigeration equipment required the old refrigerant to have a global warming potential (GWP) below 2,500 and the replacement refrigerant to have GWP strictly below 150. Optimising existing process refrigeration with refrigerants whose GWP was strictly below 150 also qualified when the work directly modified the refrigerant circuit. GWP measures a refrigerant’s contribution to warming; the terms specify the applicable European regulation and technical references. New installations and capacity extensions were excluded.
- Excluded equipment included compression air-conditioning systems, split air conditioners, plug-in refrigerators and freezers, cooling-water units needed for compression systems even if they had a free-cooling function, and building cooling distribution such as pipes, chilled ceilings and ventilation units. Refrigeration with GWP of 150 or above and adsorption or absorption chillers driven by fossil energy or district heat were excluded.
- For free cooling, developing the source, such as a well or deep borehole, and equipment intended for another use as well, such as supplying a heat pump, were excluded. District-cooling networks supplying at least one customer outside the operator’s corporate group belonged to a different funding scheme.
- Heat recovery installed when buying or optimising the refrigeration system could also be supported subject to its applicable conditions. Optimisation without directly modifying the refrigerant circuit belonged to the separate business energy-saving scheme.
- With leasing, hire purchase, contracting or similar financing, ownership had to pass to the grant recipient no later than the final instalment. A leasing or contracting agreement had to be supplied.
- Applications had to arrive before the first binding order for services other than planning, delivery, construction or any other irreversible commitment, whichever came first.
How to apply
- Stato
- non disponibile
- Chiude
- Restrizioni del bando
- Closed; applications submitted by closure continue under applicable terms.
New applications are no longer accepted. For an application filed before closure, use Meine Förderung to check its status; KPC’s cooling service team handles the offer.
After approval, sign the contract acceptance and return it through KPC’s online platform. Complete the project by the date in the funding contract. The offer page requires final accounts within six months of that contractual completion date, including the signed accounting form, invoices and payment evidence, normally through the online platform. Contract-specific payment conditions and technical requirements also apply.
Report changes from the application promptly in writing before approval. At final accounting, provide at least one comparison offer for each major equipment item and cost category; purchases from linked or partner companies may require three comparison offers from independent suppliers, making four price quotations in total. Applicants subject to Austria’s public procurement law must comply and provide the supporting records when KPC requests them.