What does the GREEN investment subsidy entail?
Before reading further about the possibilities offered by GREEN investment support, it is best to check whether:
- You are not eligible for support for your technology under the Ecologiepremie+ technology list, as published at the time of submission. If your project is eligible, apply for support via Ecologiepremie+ (and not via GREEN). To do so, consult the technology list and filter by theme.
- Your investments are not legally required. Investments that are legally required are not eligible for VLAIO ecological support. This includes investments needed to comply with:
- European or Flemish standards (e.g. VLAREM, RED III). The performance of the investments must always exceed the required standard. Anticipating standards that will enter into force later is possible if the investment is implemented and completed at least 18 months before the date on which the relevant standard enters into force.
- obligations under Flemish energy policy (e.g. energy plan, energy audit, energy balance, energy performance regulations)
- the conditions included in any environmental permit
- You have not yet started with the investments. To ensure the incentive effect of the support, a project may only start on the first day of the month following the month in which the support application was submitted. The start of the project is understood to mean:
- the date of the engineering invoice or the first purchase invoice;
the date of signing a financial leasing agreement.
For example: if you submit the support application on 15 April, the investment may start no earlier than 1 May of that same year. If you submit it on 8 May, the investment may start no earlier than 1 June. This is independent of the date on which the support is approved, if applicable.
- The project costs amount to at least €50,000.
- It is not allowed to combine GREEN investment support with other aid. This means that an enterprise may not receive other support for the same eligible investment costs. For example, no overlap is allowed with other support from VLAIO, grants from VEKA (Flemish Energy and Climate Agency), the increased investment deduction (energy, environment, transport), the Ecoboost loan, grants from Fluvius, etc.
The subsidy targets companies that invest in:
- transitioning from fossil fuels (such as heating oil, natural gas and diesel) to electric power or green energy (such as biogas and green or blue hydrogen) (Greening Theme)
and/or - reducing their overall energy consumption (Energy Efficiency Theme).
The following investments are not eligible:
- investments in technologies included in the Limitative Technology List (LTL) of the ecology premium+ subsidy. These investments must be submitted through ecology premium+. However, you may split projects or investments to submit the different parts through different subsidy instruments;
- investments to meet legal requirements (e.g. related to standards to be met, environmental permits, energy policy agreements and sector federation agreements, etc.). Investments must clearly go beyond what is required by law.
Potential investments
Greening theme - switching to green energy or electricity
‘Greening’ refers to an end user replacing fossil fuels (such as natural gas, diesel, heating oil, etc.) with the use of green heat, green cooling, electric power, green hydrogen, blue hydrogen or residual heat or cold.
Many greening opportunities are already supported through Ecologiepremie+. Therefore, first explore the options available under the heat theme of Ecologiepremie+. If your ecological investment is nevertheless not included on the Ecologiepremie+ technology list, it may still be possible to obtain support under GREEN if you use one of the following energy sources:
- solar thermal energy (excluding photovoltaic (PV) solar panels)
- geothermal energy / soil
- aquathermal energy / water
- the combustion, pyrolysis or gasification of wood waste or other biomass is not eligible for support. The digestion of biomass for heat generation is, however, eligible for support via Ecologiepremie+ (technology 201052 or 201092)
- ambient air, in the case of industrial heat pumps for process heat (this does not include applications such as the production of domestic hot water or swimming pool heating)
- green hydrogen: hydrogen produced from green electricity
- residual heat
CCU (Carbon Capture and Utilisation): the use of captured CO2 may be eligible if the captured CO2 is used in the applicant’s production processes (at a registered branch in Flanders) in order to close the carbon cycle. The enterprise must demonstrate that the source of the CO2 cannot be avoided by alternative mitigation measures (e.g. phasing out the combustion of fossil fuels). For CCU projects, it is recommended to submit a pre-registration.
Please note – the following applications are not eligible under GREEN:
- air-based heat pumps for climate control applications, the production of domestic hot water or swimming pool heating
- PV panels, wind turbines or other technologies to produce electricity, already considered standard or already financially supported
- CCS (Carbon Capture and Storage). However, under Strategic Ecological Support, support for CCS may be possible under certain conditions.
Electrification
With “electrification”, a company invests in an electric variant of a (partial) process that normally runs on fossil fuels (e.g. natural gas, fuel oil, etc.).
! Warning – new hybrid installations are not eligible for GREEN investment support (e.g. an oven that can run on both electricity and natural gas). Electrification (as an add-on) of an existing fossil-fuel-based process is eligible.
! Warning – installations that are electrically powered by default are not eligible for support (e.g. smaller baking ovens).
Energy Efficiency Theme
Using energy more sustainably also means consuming less energy. If you invest in making fossil-fuel-based installations more energy-efficient, only additions to existing installations are eligible for support (e.g. the recovery of residual energy, heat buffering, etc.). New (more efficient) fossil-fuel-based (sub-)installations are not eligible for support. In such cases, support is only possible for a new green alternative (e.g. an electric variant).
Please note – under GREEN, investment support is only available for technologies that go beyond what is already considered standard practice. This means that no support can be granted for standard investments such as thermal insulation, improvements to the building envelope, high-performance glazing, more efficient lighting, speed control of compressors, electric cars, energy management systems (EMS) for controlling buildings (including HVAC, solar panels, etc.), and so on.
What about climate control?
As far as climate control is concerned, support is only available for certain technologies and only if it concerns climate control in non-residential buildings (or residential care centres). No support from VLAIO is available for climate control in residential buildings. In the subsidy database, you can find out which support may still be available to you.
First, explore the options under the Ecologiepremie+ within the heating and cooling theme. If you do not qualify for the Ecologiepremie+, then check whether you meet the conditions for GREEN investment support.