New €50 Million Retrofit Scheme for SMEs
Press release, November 6th 2024
Waterford TD, Marc Ó Cathasaigh welcomed the launch today of a new €50 million Business Energy Upgrades Scheme (BEUS) to support small and medium sized businesses to carry out energy efficiency upgrades. The scheme will provide substantial support to the SME sector to address energy costs. .
Ó Cathasaigh said “This new €50million fund for small and medium business will enable them to retrofit existing buildings to help with energy costs while reducing emissions. It will fund a range of measures including heat pumps, solar thermal, wall insulation and ventilation. We need to provide the financial supports and incentives to ensure that we reduce carbon emissions in the business sector and this is a sensible and long-sighted investment. This scheme will return economic, environmental and health benefits to small business. What I particularly like is how seamless the application process will be – an application can be made by an SME and a decision and grant offer generated within minutes. I’ll be reaching out to local businesses to help them reduce their energy costs will also progressing their own sustainability journey.”
The scheme, funded from the Climate Action Fund, offers up to €120,000 for a range of common building upgrade measures, to significantly enhance existing building management systems and for retrofit design activities. The scheme is open to all businesses and small public bodies who are upgrading a building they own or occupy.
The initiative will be administered by the SEAI, with applications opening today and will allow business owners to progress investments without delay and reducing the time spent accessing grant support. This new scheme is one of several initiatives that will continue the scale-up of retrofit activity over the coming years.
Minister Ryan said:
“I am very pleased to launch this scheme today, to build on the unprecedented level of support that has been made available to businesses to improve their energy efficiency, securing themselves against energy cost volatility and demonstrating leadership in reducing their climate impact.
“We have listened to businesses and we know that they want to retrofit their buildings but they want to do so as fast and as simply as possible. This scheme delivers just this. It is targeted, simple and straight forward. It is designed with small businesses in mind in particular, and especially businesses who are renting premises. It is a vital step in helping us decarbonise as a country, and it does this while also helping hard pressed businesses right across the country to reduce their energy costs and make their work places warmer and healthier.”
