Off-grid renewable electricity grant

• Your eligible investment costs must be at least €10,000 for renewable generation for your own use where no grid connection is possible. Companies outside Austria can apply for investments at Austrian business sites.
• Associations and religious institutions can apply. Selling goods or services for payment counts as economic activity under the State aid rules; public-benefit activities that do not compete with other providers are treated differently. Agricultural projects qualify only when they are not eligible for agricultural funding.
• Private individuals and exclusively residential properties are excluded. A property with residential and business use must have more than 50% of its heated gross floor area in business use; subordinate residential portions can then be included. For other mixed-use equipment or properties, business use must exceed 50%; the investment can then qualify in full. Business use is normally measured by floor area, or by relevant output or heat flows in justified cases.
• Federal subordinate departments and federal sovereign-administration activities are excluded. A local authority can qualify through a market-oriented operation with more than 50% cost coverage, full accounts including assets and liabilities, and substantial decision autonomy under its municipal organizational resolution; evidence from the supervisory authority may be required.
• Plants receiving EAG renewable-energy tariff or investment support cannot receive this grant; simultaneous EAG and UFI support is excluded. A measure receiving the reduced VAT rate under Austrian VAT Act section 28(62) is also excluded.
• Planning is capped at 10% of eligible material costs. Your own staff time, individual invoices below €500 net, maintenance, repairs, replacement of failed equipment, taxes, grid connection costs and financing costs are excluded. Discounts are deducted even if unused; cash payments qualify only up to €5,000 net per supplier.
• For leasing or hire purchase, the owner is the applicant and ownership must pass to the recipient by the final instalment. Payment of the grant is limited to deposits and instalments actually paid by final accounting, excluding interest and fees. For contracting, if the customer owns the plant and records it as an asset on its balance sheet, only the customer applies, with the same ownership-transfer and payment limits. If the contractor owns the plant and records it as an asset on its balance sheet, only the contractor applies: both parties must fit the target group, the contractor must secure the forecast environmental effect throughout the grant contract, and the grant benefit must visibly reach the customer. Resolve ownership in the contract. These financing forms are permitted only for purely national funding, and are excluded with EU co-financing. The customer’s company data determine the funding calculation.
• Operate funded equipment for at least ten years. Report significant project changes and obtain KPC consent. The State aid incentive test requires that the aid enables work that would otherwise not happen.
• Without the grant, the project must take at least three years to recover its investment through savings. Projects that pay for themselves sooner do not meet this requirement. KPC calculates this payback period using the costs eligible under the State aid rules and energy prices at application, including additional savings or costs such as staff savings or increased maintenance.

Status

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Apply online to Kommunalkredit Public Consulting (KPC) through the programme page before the earliest binding equipment order, delivery, construction start or other irreversible commitment. With leasing, hire purchase or contracting, apply before signing the finance contract or ordering equipment, whichever comes first. Submit a complete application: incomplete applications must be rejected. Include the technical data sheet and costs, project description, output and consumption forecast, offers, hydropower or wind permits, and a bank report for investment above €500,000.

Once KPC confirms receipt you may start at your own risk. Return the signed acceptance declaration to make the funding contract effective. Complete within 18 months of its issue; exceptions require technical justification. Submit project or cost changes as soon as known, before approval, using the supplementary application (Nachantrag); affected work must meet the same timely-application rules.

Submit final accounts through the contract’s online platform with invoices, proof of payment, and required technical evidence. Costs must be paid and capitalized where applicable. Provide at least one comparison offer for each major component and cost item; for affiliated or partner-company suppliers, three independent comparison offers (four prices in total) may be required for each major item. Comply with applicable public procurement rules and submit the records. For financed equipment, provide the finance contract, purchase invoice and proof of instalments paid.