On 3/11/2024, the Guide to the "EXIKONOMO" for business Action was published with the aim of subsidizing energy upgrade interventions in buildings by small and medium-sized enterprises active in trade, services and tourism.
The goal of the program is to upgrade the building stock of businesses in the above sectors, achieving a reduction in CO2 emissions by at least 35%, primary energy savings by at least 40% and upgrading the energy category of the property by at least 2 energy categories (or mandatory in class B+ when it comes to radical renovation). In this context, savings are expected to result from:
a) the energy upgrade of the building infrastructure with interventions in the building shell, upgrading of internal electrical installations, upgrading of cooling/heating systems, upgrading and/or integration of new materials and equipment to reduce energy losses, upgrading of lighting equipment, etc. and
b) with the installation and certification of energy management systems and automation devices.
Eligible are small and medium-sized enterprises that have been established with an eligible activity KAD. Businesses that will include their properties in this Action will have to confirm the legality of the construction, and if there are any irregularities, they will have to make a declaration of compliance with the Law on Illegal Construction.As part of submitting the application for inclusion, an Energy Audit must be carried out or an Energy Performance Certificate must be issued, as appropriate, if the Investment Plan includes energy saving interventions in non-building infrastructure or if it concerns an upgrade of building infrastructures that fall under the provisions of Law 4122/2013 respectively. Buildings that are classified under the PEA in their current state in class C to H are eligible.
Each business can submit a single application, which may, however, include buildings in multiple locations, as long as they belong to the same Region and the details of each building/building unit are distinct in the proposal.
Among the obligations of the Beneficiaries is the creation of accessibility infrastructure for people with disabilities (both building infrastructure and electronic applications aimed at the customer audience), the issuance of any permits required by law for the execution of the work. Additionally, the subsidized equipment must have certified energy characteristics and be modern, new and unused.
Eligible are buildings that are privately owned, otherwise there must be a lease for a period equal to the period required for the accounting depreciation of the investment and which must be accompanied by a statement from the owner certifying that a) has taken note of and agrees with the submission of the proposal and b) agrees with the execution of the proposed works to improve energy efficiency (*only if the investment plan includes building interventions and expenses).
The maximum eligible budget is €250,000 for businesses operating in Trade and Services and €500,000 for tourism businesses.In any case, the subsidized budget may not exceed the product of 1.45 Euros and the total estimated annual primary energy savings (kWh), as shown in the A’ Energy Performance Certificate or the Energy Audit Results Report.
It is noted that eligible are tourism businesses with a maximum capacity of 200 beds that operate legally in one of the following forms:
-Hotels of sub-paragraph aa of paragraph a of paragraph 2 of article 1 of law 4276/2014
-Hotel units and other tourist units operating in traditional or listed buildings or buildings of architectural heritage
-Businesses of rented rooms, rented furnished apartments and mixed form of rented rooms and rented furnished apartments
-Self-catering accommodation Furnished tourist houses or even tourist villas
-Organized tourist camps (camping).
and which fall under the Activity Code Numbers included in the following table:
| K.A.D. – 2008 | |
| Code Number
Activity: 55 |
Description: Accommodation |
| 55.1 (all the subcategories) |
Hotels and similar accommodations |
| 55.2 (all subcategories excluding 55.20.19) |
Holiday accommodation and other short-stay accommodations |
| 55.30.11 | Camping services (camping) |
The eligible categories of business activities (CBA) are defined in detail in Annex 5 of the Detailed Call.
The included proposals must be implemented within 15 months from the date of inclusion of the proposal. The deadline for eligibility of the proposal costs is 30.07.2025.
Eligible expenses are:
- building envelope energy upgrade interventions such as thermal insulation of opaque structural elements, replacement of transparent structural elements, installation of shading systems,
- interventions for energy upgrading of the lighting system, both internal and external, such as replacing lighting fixtures with new LED technology, installing automations for combining artificial with natural lighting, installing automations to reduce consumption due to the absence/presence of users,
- energy saving interventions in space heating systems such as replacing boilers with heat pumps, strengthening thermal insulation of distribution networks, replacing terminal units with new, more energy-efficient ones,
- energy saving interventions in space cooling systems such as replacing chillers with newer technology heat pumps or chillers, strengthening thermal insulation of distribution networks, replacing terminal units with new, more energy-efficient ones,
- energy saving interventions in space ventilation systems such as replacing HVAC units with newer technology that feature energy recovery of the exhaust air, strengthening the thermal insulation of distribution networks, replacement of unit fans with new, more energy-efficient ones controlled by electronic devices (inverters),
- energy saving interventions in hot water systems such as replacing boilers with heat pumps, strengthening thermal insulation of distribution networks, replacing storage units with new, more energy-efficient ones,
- installation of solar thermal systems,
- interventions to replace energy-intensive equipment related to the production process of the main services provided (e.g. ovens, refrigerators),
- installation of a compensation system,
- installation of automation, control and management systems at local and central level (Building Energy Management System, Energy Management System)
- Energy Auditor Services, as defined by Law 4342/2015 and the relevant Y.A 178679/04.07.2017.
- Energy Inspector Services, as defined by Law 4122/2013 and the relevant Y.A 178581/30-06-2017 for the issuance of Energy Performance Certificates (initial and final) for the cases of buildings that fall within the scope of the KEnAK.
- Implementation and Certification of an energy management system according to the ISO 50001 standard.
- Administrative and application management consultant fees
- Expenses for studies and research of all kinds necessary for the implementation of the energy audit results report related to the purposes of the Action.
Not eligible are:
- Costs not directly linked to achieving a higher level of energy efficiency
- Replacing burners and boilers with fossil fuel burners or boilers
- Εργασίες συντήρησης.
- Movable elements, of a non-permanent nature (e.g. curtains, interior blinds, etc.).
- Λοιπός εξοπλισμός που δε συμβάλει στην ενεργειακή αναβάθμιση του κτιρίου
- Expenditures for cogeneration of electricity and heat and subsidies for district heating and/or district cooling
- Εργοδοτικές εισφορές για κατασκευαστικές εργασίες και οι δαπάνες που αφορούν σε δασμούς, και τέλη.
The start of the eligibility of expenses is defined after the submission of the application for inclusion, with the exception of study expenses that are eligible after 7/10/2022.
The subsidy is 40% for supporting study costs and 50% for energy saving costs (or 40% for medium-sized and 30% for large enterprises) for energy efficiency measures EXCEPT ENERGY EFFICIENCY MEASURES IN BUILDINGS,where the subsidy is 40% for supporting study costs and 65% for energy saving costs (or 55% for medium-sized and 45% for large enterprises).
The evaluation of proposals is in order of priority and until the public expenditure of the Program is exhausted.
The submission of proposals is extended until April 15, 2024 at 18:00.
