The Federal Office of Energy is funding significantly more projects
The Federal Office of Energy funded significantly more electricity-saving projects last year than in the previous year. According to the authorities, the reason for the increase from 39 to 79 projects is a simplified and faster procedure for allocating the funding.
In 2021, the Federal Office of Energy funded a total of 79 new projects and 13 new programs as part of competitive tenders to save electricity in the industrial and service sectors and in households. The number of subsidized projects was thus significantly higher than in 2020, according to a press release . In 2020, the number of funded projects was 39 and the number of funded programs was 15.
According to the Federal Office of Energy, this increase in projects is “at least partly due to the softened selection process in 2021”. It was introduced as an "immediate measure for projects due to the Covid 19 pandemic". In 2021, the beneficiaries received a total of 40 million francs.
The subsidies were used, among other things, to optimize shaft heating for snowmaking systems in terms of energy, to replace a production system for drawers at a furniture manufacturer and to replace vacuum pumps in a paper production machine.
Taken together, the funded projects and programs save 90 gigawatt hours of electricity per year. "That corresponds to the annual electricity consumption of 16,000 households," says the press release.
The competitive tenders for 2022 have meanwhile already begun. Interested parties can submit programs until May 2nd. Applications for projects can be submitted at any time throughout the year. The entry is made online. The participants will receive confirmations and rejection of funding after four weeks at the latest.