The Minister for Communications, Energy & Natural Resources, Pat Rabbitte T.D., announced on the 14th March, the launch of a capital fund of €7.5M to support sustainable energy investments in 2012 in the public, commercial, industrial and community sectors. This fund, as part of the Government Better Energy programme, aims to deliver a major increase in the pace, scale and depth of sustainable energy investments in upgrading existing buildings and facilities. In order to build a strong bank of exemplar projects, and to test and evaluate new approaches, applicants are requested to submit proposals for financial support which will be assessed on a competitive basis and support will be available to the successful applicants through Better Energy Workplaces 2012 fund. This fund is designed for implementing a wide range of qualifying sustainable energy upgrading projects in the public, commercial, industrial and community sectors. The main focus of the support will be on achieving delivery in 2012 of a portfolio of energy efficiency investment projects of differing sizes and complexities. This call for proposals is now open and the deadline for submission of completed application forms to SEAI is Monday 30th of April 2012. All successful applicants will be informed in June 2012 with works to be completed by November 15th 2012. Programme objectives The objectives include: - Lever significant energy efficiency gains in the public and business sectors.
- Stimulate direct employment by focussing on relatively labour-intensive energy projects.
- Demonstrate potential savings opportunities through real case studies.
- Build capacity in the supply of energy efficiency goods and services.
- Develop and showcase the impact of sustainable energy services provided by or on behalf of an Energy Supply company acting in fulfilment of its energy saving target as set out in its Voluntary Agreement with the SEAI or in compliance with an Energy Efficiency notice issued by the Minister for Communications , Energy and Natural Resources, or by an entity delegated by an energy supply company.
- Develop and showcase innovative delivery models and ESCOs, including the associated contractual and procurement mechanisms based on the principles of energy performance contracting, which in turn will inform other longer term initiatives for activating sustainable energy retrofit investment.
Who can avail of the fund? The fund is open to projects and related initiatives for the sustainable energy upgrading of buildings, services, facilities, processes and transport and to organisations in the public and private (including community) sector. Public Sector Organisations eligible for participation include central government departments, commercial and non commercial state bodies, local authorities, health sector, and 1st, 2nd and 3rd level educational bodies. Private Sector For the purposes of this Programme, the business sector is defined as comprising all organisations that do not fall within the definition set out above for the public sector, this includes SMEs, voluntary organisations and community groups. What projects are eligible? The grant support will be provided for energy efficiency project implementation – rather than for R&D, feasibility, design or demonstration aspects of energy efficiency projects. Projects must be scheduled for completion before15th November 2012 Examples of eligible technologies or systems include: refrigeration, chillers, motor, lighting retrofitting, heating controls upgrades, building fabric upgrades, ventilation systems and controls upgrade, and transport. Examples of technologies not supported include: single technology solutions and biomass boiler replacement, renewable energy systems such as wind turbines and PV panels unless accompanied by a suite of energy efficiency upgrade measures. What level of funding is available? The fund will provide the following grant levels depending on the nature of the project: - Public sector: Generally funding of up to 35% of eligible expenditure is available with the potential for 50% funding for exceptional proposals that demonstrate multiple elements of the scheme objectives
- Private sector, voluntary, community: Up to 35% funding is available.
In general, grant support per project will not be less than €20,000 and will not exceed €500,000. Projects of a scale eligible to attract grant support of over €100,000 and projects submitted via ESCOs and Energy Supply companies are particularly encouraged. Eligible costs - External labour required to install and commission the energy efficiency project..
- Equipment, hardware or control systems necessary to implement the energy efficiency project.
- Additional external specialist support - Internal staff costs are ineligible.
Note: The deadline for receipt of all necessary certification to complete any claim for support is 15th November 2012. Failure to comply could mean revocation of grant. Additional information is available from the SEAI by contacting 01 8082100 | 
