Heat pumps: Action for domestic heating/cooling in Western Macedonia

The action concerns support for the installation of heat pumps in the domestic sector to cover the heating and cooling needs of homes in the Western Region Macedonia.

Additionally, the action enables the beneficiaries to optionally carry out thermal insulation interventions in their home and/or electricity production energy from RES through PV with self-production and storage.

The ambient energy used by the heat pumps for heating is considered as RES, in accordance with Directive 2018/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council and counts and in the national targets set in the framework of the National Energy and Climate Plan (ESEK).

Also, the ambient energy used for cooling is now also considered as RES according to the recent Regulation 2022/759 of the European Commission of December 14, 2021. Due to its climatic characteristics, Western Macedonia has highest demand for heating among the Regions of the country and was the first Region in Greece where heating systems were studied and installed for the needs of citizens (Ptolemaida, Kozani, Amyntaio).

However, since electricity cannot cover all the households in the region, this specific action comes to promote the weaning off of oil and other solid conventional fuels, in combination with energy saving interventions, self-production and support of RES, which will contribute to the prevention and treatment of energy poverty and the preservation of the energy identity of these areas.

The electrification of heating in the final consumption of the building sector is a key component in the country’s strategic planning and will contribute to the building sector’s independence from fossil fuels. Heat pumps are expected to play an important role in this direction, the use of which can be optimized in combination with the use of self-generation schemes from RES and energy storage systems.

Action Budget

The co-financed public expenditure available for the inclusion of operations with this call amounts to 12,135,000 euros.

Beneficiaries

The action concerns the replacement of the heating system with air-cooled heat pumps (A/T) or Geothermal heat pumps (GATH) and as potential beneficiaries are considered to be domestic consumers whose residence has an oil or other solid conventional fuel heating system in operation or is heated by a central oil or other solid conventional fuel heating system in operation and no one has been received another grant to replace the specific system from a public body. The potential beneficiaries should not be connected to a district heating network or there should be no provision for future connection. In addition to the replacement of the heating system by A/T or GAT, the action may also subsidize:

1. The installation of auxiliary systems to the heat pump for the supply of domestic hot water (e.g. water storage tank, piping, etc.)

2. The installation of thermal insulation in accordance with the minimum requirements of KENAK and the re-dimensioning of the heating system, only in the case that the residence does not have thermal insulation protection or has insufficient thermal insulation protection according to the Regulation on Thermal Insulation of Buildings (K.Th.K). In this case, the costs for the supply and installation of thermal insulation

are also eligible

3. The installation of PV systems with a storage system for self-consumption with the application of energy compensation. In addition, it is pointed out that the provisions of Regulation 1407/2013 of the EU Commission on de minimis aid are applied to the buildings owned by the beneficiaries which are the object of exploitation, where the limits of accumulation are determined (200,000 euros) and therefore a declaration of compliance of the Potential Beneficiary with the regulation in question is required. The costs of the interventions implemented within the framework of the Program or part thereof, should not have received support from another Fund or financial instrument or from another European or national program e.g. actions to replace heating systems with natural gas systems, etc. In the event that double funding of an intervention is found, the specific expenditure will be deemed ineligible

Beneficiaries

The prospective beneficiaries submit proposals exclusively electronically via the OPS. For this purpose, they are required to have an individual user account (ID and password) to access the OPS:

4.1.1. the executives of the Beneficiary who have the responsibility for completing forms and

4.1.2. the Beneficiary’s legal representative for the submission of the proposals, or another user of the system authorized for the submission. Instructions for obtaining a user account in OPS can be found at http://logon.ops.gr (Beneficiary User Registration). If the Beneficiary does not already have an “Operator code” in OPS from the period 2014-2020, he should apply for an operator code according to the instructions at the online address http://logon.ops.gr, before submitting the proposal.

4.2. The proposals are submitted through the OPS at the online address http://logon.ops.gr from 01/11/2023 (start date for submission of proposals), at 08:00 until, exclusively, 28/02/2024 (end date of submission of proposals), at 14:00, from legal representative of the Beneficiary. After the successful submission of the proposal, the Beneficiary is informed about it through OPS

In cases of documents, for which electronic attachment/submission is not technically possible (e.g. maps, plans, etc.), the beneficiary is obliged to send them to the Special Management Service/EF at the address: Mitropoleos 45, ATHINA 10556, within 10 working days from the date of electronic submission of the proposal by Beneficiary.

Proposals will not be accepted outside of the above deadlines.

Before the deadline for submitting proposals, it is allowed to resubmit a new proposal after canceling the original proposal. The proposal is evaluated based on the last successful/valid submission.

The period for submission of proposals may end earlier than the date specified above, in case of exhaustion of the available co-financed public expenditure of this call (immediate evaluation). Potential beneficiaries are informed via the relevant website www.eydam.gr.