Energy and energy-saving technology; application for funding for development and innovation

With the Bavarian Energy Research Program, the Free State of Bavaria promotes the research, development and application of new energy and energy efficiency technologies.

Purpose

The funding is intended to enable the research, development and application of new energy and energy efficiency technologies. Many of these technologies are not yet marketable due to their level of technological maturity and require appropriate support. The primary aim of Bavarian research funding in the energy sector is therefore to reduce the high technical and economic risks for companies and to create innovation-friendly framework conditions by providing financial support from the state.

The focus of the funding is on technologies and concepts that promise significant increases in efficiency, improved integration of renewable energies, ensuring security of supply and a rapid transfer of research results into application and the market. The aim is to increase value creation in Bavaria and to create and maintain jobs.

Above and beyond individual cases, the aim is also to contribute to the achievement of Bavarian, national and international targets for improving energy efficiency, saving energy, increasing the use of renewable energies and reducing energy-related CO2 emissions.

Object

The Bavarian Energy Research Program supports research and development projects, studies and demonstration projects for new energy and energy efficiency technologies:

• Research and development projects (industrial research, experimental development),
• technical feasibility studies in the run-up to such projects,
• investment measures to increase energy efficiency through innovative, non-building-related technologies,
• Investments in plants for the use of renewable energies, renewable hydrogen and highly efficient combined heat and power generation.

Funding recipients

Funding recipients are companies based or established in Bavaria. For projects to demonstrate and introduce new technologies in the fields of energy efficiency, renewable energies, renewable hydrogen and highly efficient combined heat and power generation, local authorities and sponsors of ecclesiastical or comparable institutions in Bavaria may also be eligible to apply.

Eligible costs

In the case of research and development projects (pursuant to Nos. 2.1 and 2.2), personnel costs, expenditure on instruments and equipment, contract research, knowledge and patents acquired directly or under license from third parties as well as expenditure on consultancy and equivalent services and other operating expenses (such as materials, consumables and the like) may be subsidized.

In the case of feasibility studies (in accordance with no. 2.3), the expenses of the study (e.g. expenses for planning, conducting and presenting the results of the study) are eligible for funding.

In the case of demonstration projects (pursuant to Nos. 2.4 and 2.5), the additional investment expenditure is eligible for funding.

The type and scope of the grant are based on No. 5 of the Bavarian Energy Research Program.

Type and amount

The funding is granted as a subsidy.

The type of grant is project funding.
The funding period covers the entire duration of the project.

The grant is provided as partial funding in the form of subsidies as part of project funding. The grant amounts to

• up to 50% of the eligible expenditure for research projects in accordance with No. 2.1,
• up to 25% of the eligible expenditure for development projects in accordance with No. 2.2,
• up to 30% of the eligible expenditure for studies pursuant to No. 2.3,
• up to 30% of the eligible expenditure for demonstration projects in accordance with no. 2.4 (energy efficiency measures),
• up to 40% of the eligible expenditure for demonstration projects in accordance with No. 2.5.

For SMEs pursuant to Annex I of the GBER, the funding rates may be increased by 10 percentage points for projects under Nos. 2.2 to 2.5. If different project activities can be allocated to both research in accordance with No. 2.1, development in accordance with No. 2.2 and demonstration in accordance with Nos. 2.4 and 2.5, the funding rate will be determined proportionately.

Projects under the Bavarian Energy Research Programme must be characterized by a high degree of innovation, i.e. the technologies, products and services to be developed or demonstrated must go beyond the state of the art in science and technology. The implementation of the project must be associated with a considerable technical and economic risk and the project must be carried out in its essential parts in the Free State of Bavaria. Companies with a registered office or branch in the Free State of Bavaria are eligible to apply. For demonstration projects, local authorities and sponsors of ecclesiastical or comparable institutions in the Free State of Bavaria are also eligible to apply.

At the time of application, the applicant must already have specific research capacities (for research projects), specific development capacities (for development projects) or operational experience (for demonstration projects) and relevant technical experience.

Studies must be carried out independently by a neutral body that is not involved in any subsequent implementation of the study results.

The applicant must demonstrably use an appropriate amount of own or external funds for the financing in accordance with its asset, liquidity and earnings situation, which are not replaced or reduced in price by other public funding. Funding is not available for companies in difficulty.

Cumulation with European Union funds or other state aid is only possible under the conditions of Art. 8 GBER.

Exclusion criteria:

Projects that have already begun before the responsible project management organization receives a verifiable application or that are carried out on behalf of third parties not involved in the project will not be funded.

Companies in difficulty pursuant to Art. 1 (4) lit. c) in conjunction with Art. 2 No. 18 GBER are not eligible for funding. This applies in particular to applicants for whom insolvency proceedings have been applied for or opened. The same applies to applicants and, if the applicant is a legal entity, to its legal representatives who have made an affidavit in accordance with Section 807 ZPO or Section 284 AO or are obliged to do so. A company that has not complied with a recovery order based on an earlier Commission decision declaring a grant illegal and incompatible with the common market may not be granted a grant under this Directive.

Cumulation with European Union funds or other state aid is only possible under the conditions of Art. 8 GBER.

Administrative court action

• Outlines and applications for grants must be submitted to the project management organization. The Free State of Bavaria has commissioned the Project Management Agency Jülich (PtJ), NMT Division, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425 Jülich, to handle this funding program. Early contact with the project management organization is recommended.
• Applications must be submitted electronically. The access data for this can be obtained from the project management organization. Further information is available on the Internet platform for electronic applications (ELAN) of the State Ministry of Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy at www.fips.bayern.de.
• The project management organization will review the outlines and applications in the name of and on behalf of the Free State of Bavaria, will make a recommendation for the funding decision, if necessary with the involvement of experts, and will process the funding, process the payment requests, review the interim reports, the proof of use and the utilization reports as well as handle the correspondence with the applicants. The project management organization is entitled to obtain explanations from the applicants regarding the applications and the processing of the funding. The project management organization is obliged to maintain confidentiality.
• The granting authority is the Bavarian State Ministry of Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy. The approval authority issues the grant notification and disburses the funding. The calls for funds and the proof of use must be submitted to the project sponsor, who forwards them to the granting authority. The Bavarian Supreme Audit Office is authorized to audit the grant recipients in accordance with Art. 91 BayHO.

There are no fixed deadlines for this funding.

• Required Documents
  • Skizze und vollständiger Antrag