“Save 2023”: 2nd cycle of the program starts – When does the deadline end
The Proclamation Decision for the 2nd cycle of “Escoionamo 2023” was signed by the Minister of Environment and Energy, Mr. Thodoros Skylakakis and the Deputy Minister of National Economy and Finance, Mr. Nikos Papathanasis. The programme is open for applications from 7.2.2024 to 29.3.2024, with a budget of 110 million euros, directed, exclusively, to energy vulnerable households.
In particular, with regard to the terms and conditions of participation in the second cycle, potential beneficiaries are natural persons who have a real right (full ownership, usufruct, small ownership) in eligible residence, i.e. detached house or apartment that exists legally, is used as a main residence, which has not been deemed to be demolished and has been classified under the First Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) in a category lower or equal to G.
For each potential beneficiary, the individual income must not exceed 5,000 euros and the family income 10,000 euros. The maximum rate subsidy is 75% in the case of ownership by the applicant and 65% in the case of free concession to another person or rental, respectively.
Eligible spends in “Save 2023”
In the context of the program, interventions related to the following five basic categories of expenses are eligible:
- Replacement of frames
- Installation/upgrade of thermal insulation
- Heating/cooling system upgrade
- Domestic hot water system using Renewable Energy Sources (RES)
- Installation of a smart management system (smart home)
It is worth noting that VAT is an eligible expense for the program and is declared separately in the documents. If suppliers are subject to a reduced VAT regime or are exempt from the obligation to submit a declaration and pay tax, the applicable VAT rate must be declared.
The private participation for the implementation of the interventions can be covered by the beneficiaries of the program either with equity or with a loan contract (for the amount they choose or the one that will be approved by the financial organization) or with a combination of these.
In case of signing a loan contract, the option of guaranteeing the program is provided to secure the loan to the financial institutions. The guarantee covers the amount of the loaning at 100% for ownership cases and at 80% for rental/free concession cases, taking into account state aid rules.
The interest rate of the loan contract for the needs of the program is fixed and subsidized, at a percentage of 100%.
Funding applications are submitted only online and mandatory through the information system of the program’s official website (https://exoikonomo2023.gov.gr/). When submitting the application it is not necessary to present a physical folder with supporting documents. The necessary justifications are attached by the candidate electronically.
For each eligible natural person (for each TIN applicant) and for each eligible residence, it is possible to submit only one application. Residence, with an active application in one of the Energy Upgrade Programs, “Home Savings II”, “Save-Autonomy”, “Save 2021” and “Save-Renovate for young people” does not have the right to submit to second cycle An Exception is the case of a participating apartment application for a “type B” apartment building of the “Save – Autonomy” Program, for which it is allowed to submit an application as an apartment.
A natural person who has submitted an application in the first cycle of the program, does not have the right to submit to the second cycle.
Residence for which an application has been submitted in the first cycle of the program, it is not allowed to submit an application in the second cycle.
For the submission and monitoring of the project, the interested party must use a Technical Advisor, a natural person, on the condition that he is engineer, registered in the Register of Members or Book of Technical Names of Technical Chamber of Greece (TEE), the cost of which is covered directly by the program.
After the decision subscription is provided the possibility to the beneficiary to use the advance grant.
The “Save 2023” is subsidized by the Recovery and Resilience Fund. The program aims to improve the energy class of households, by saving primary energy over 30% for each beneficiary/residential building, through energy upgrading by at least three energy categories.
It is noted that the expenses of the interventions implemented within the framework of the program or part of them must not have received support from another Fund or financial instrument or from another European or national program, e.g. from actions to replace heating systems with natural gas systems, “Recycle – Change Device” program etc. In the event of found double funding of an intervention, the specific expenditure is deemed ineligible.
Meanwhile, the initial ranking tables for the applicants from the first round of “Excoionamo 2023” are soon expected to be announced, which will include, as in principle eligible, the total of 31,549 of submitted applications, total budget 422.1 million euros.