Capital Investment for Decarbonisation Processes

The Capital investment for decarbonisation processes is funded under the Enterprise Emissions Reduction Investment Fund, the objective of which is to support companies to decarbonise their manufacturing combustion processes (i.e. heating from manufacturing processes) through investment in carbon abating capital equipment and technologies.

The fund aims to:

• Reduce the payback period of key carbon reducing technologies at plant level by incentivising companies to invest in, and adopt these technologies
• Increase the resilience of companies to climate change and support them to accelerate progress towards a net zero carbon pathway

The fund is operating under the Green Transition Fund, the overall objective of which is to accelerate the decarbonisation of Irish enterprise, as part of Ireland’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan, funded by the European Union.

Funding will be in the form of a grant. Maximum grant aid will be €1m per project, with minimum grant aid of €20,000.

Grant aid will be provided against the eligible costs of the project. Eligible costs are the extra investment costs in a project required to go beyond EU standards for environmental protection, to increase the level of environmental protection in the absence of EU standards or to achieve a higher level of energy efficiency.

Grant aid intensity is calculated as a % of the eligible costs of the projects, and will be as follows: Small Enterprise Up to 50% of eligible costs Medium Enterprise Up to 40% of eligible costs Large Enterprise Up to 30% of eligible costs

NOTE: The grant claim is based on the costs of equipment excluding VAT.

To ensure delivery on the decarbonisation objectives of the fund and the achievement of value for money objectives, the grant awarded will also be determined by the efficiency of the carbon reduction achieved by the project. A guide grant rate of €500 per tonne of CO2 abated will apply.

The fund will operate on an open call basis. It will remain open to applications until 1 October 2025, or until such time as the budget is exhausted, whichever date is earlier. Investment shall be completed by no later than 31 August 2026.

Companies eligible for support under the Enterprise Emissions Reduction Investment Fund: Capital investment for decarbonisation processes, are manufacturing clients of Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland and Údarás na Gaeltachta, subject to the prevailing policies and eligibility criteria of those agencies.

Eligible companies must:

• Have 10 or more full time employees in Ireland at the time of application
• Have been generating sales for at least 5 years

Project eligibility

Eligible projects are those that are deemed to be significant capital investments in carbon abatement technologies and will result in a demonstrable reduction in carbon emissions.

The following is a list of technologies eligible for funding:

• Industrial Heat Pumps (including air, water, and ground source)
• Electric steam boilers
• Heat recovery technologies
• Mechanical Vapour Recompression (MVR) evaporators
• Biomass boilers**

NOTE: The above list is not exhaustive, and each application will be assessed and considered on a case-by-case basis. Each applicant will have to provide a technical assessment to show suitability of the carbon abatement technology in their manufacturing combustion process, including site suitability, and to ensure alignment with national policy.

If any expenditure is incurred before the date of application, the entire project will be ineligible for assistance.

Eligible projects are subject to the conditions set out in Articles 36, 38 and 40 (Environmental Protection) of the EU Commission General Block Exemption Regulation.

**For companies operating within the Emissions Trading System (ETS), biomass boilers are considered an eligible cost. For non ETS companies, biomass boilers may be supported under the Support Scheme for Renewable Heat (SSRH) through SEAI. .

Applications must be discussed with your assigned Development Advisor prior to submitting an application. Enterprise Ireland clients should use this link to find their Development Advisor in order to discuss their proposed project.

Applications and associated documents must be submitted via email and include the following:

• Enterprise Emissions Reduction Investment Fund: Capital Investment decarbonisation 1 of 3 Business Plan (.docx)
• Enterprise Emissions Reduction Investment Fund: Capital Investment decarbonisation 2 of 3 Project Plan (.docx)
• Enterprise Emissions Reduction Investment Fund: Capital Investment decarbonisation 3 of 3 Project Costs (.xlsx)
• M&V Template (.docx) - an M & V will need to be provided at the grant draw down stage which should align with the International Performance Measurement Verification Protocol (IPMVP) or equivalent.
• Financial Data Sheet (FDS) (required for projects where the grant assistance package being sought is €150,000 or greater) (.xlsx) The following documents are provided to support companies in completing the application forms

Counterfactual table (.docx)

Do No Significant Harm (DNSH) Information Note (.docx)

Applicants must give an undertaking that they have not sought or received, directly or indirectly, other national or EU funding for investments and/or actions qualifying for aid under this fund.

To be a valid application, a completed Application (including all of the documentation listed above) must be submitted together to GA-EERIF@enterprise-ireland.com. Clients should note that this is not a secured e-mail transmission.

Receipt of the application will be acknowledged by Grant Applications & Contracts - Industry (GA) within 3 working days. If after this period you have not received acknowledgement then you should contact GA by e-mail: GA-EERIF@enterprise-ireland.com