On Monday 31 October 2022, Luxembourg's Ministry of the Economy and Ministry of Energy and Spatial Planning announced a new financial aid measure aimed at businesses to encourage photovoltaic solar panel installation.
According to the ministries, this new aid to businesses will promote construction and operation of electricity production plants from photovoltaic solar energy in Luxembourg, focusing on the self-consumption of electricity as well as production.
As part of the "Solidaritéitspak 2.0" concluded at the end of the tripartite agreement on 20 September 2022, this measure encourages companies to produce, in whole or in part, their own energy. Companies wishing to benefit from this investment aid will be able to submit projects for photovoltaic power plants on buildings (or warehouses) as part of a call for tenders.
The allocation of aid is done by means of a call for competition launched by the Ministry of the Economy, in cooperation with the Ministry of Energy and Regional Planning, in application of the amended law of 15 December 2017 relating to an aid scheme for environmental protection, thus in line with granting aid to (large) photovoltaic power plants through calls for tenders.
The aid to promote the self-consumption of photovoltaic electricity to companies is allocated following a call for projects with a maximum budget of €30 million divided into equal shares of €10 million in three lots differentiated by the size of the photovoltaic power plant.
The call for projects is open from 1 November 2022 until 28 February 2023.
“Solar energy is an energy of the future: it plays a central role in the energy transition and will help us become more and more independent of fossil fuels. By allowing more actors to benefit from self-consumption, we hope to convince even more actors that photovoltaic energy is not only beneficial for the climate, but also for the economy since it makes it possible to reduce exposure of our companies to fluctuations in electricity prices on the market", specified the Minister for Energy, Claude Turmes.
The Minister for Economy, Franz Fayot, said: "While being complementary to the aid already existing in terms of energy for companies, this new measure responds to the challenge in the field of security of supply for companies and contributes to the transition green and sustainable economy. This measure also makes it possible to achieve our climate objectives by 2030.”
An information sheet detailing the terms and conditions of this aid (including the specifications and an FAQ) can be consulted on Guichet.lu. Applications for investment aid must be submitted via the MyGuichet.lu platform.
