• Going beyond Union standards in the absence of Union standards
• Early adaptation to future Union standards
• Environmental studies
• Energy efficiency measures
• High-efficiency cogeneration
• District heating and cooling
• Renewable energy sources
• Waste management
• Remediation of contaminated sites
• Relocation of companies

Foreign direct investment (FDI) companies that are IDA Ireland clients or potential clients and want to improve their environmental performance and competitiveness. 

To be eligible for the grant, the applicant must:

• Be a business or public entity registered in Ireland
• Have a valid tax clearance certificate
• Agree to provide feedback and data to IDA Ireland
• Not have received any other public funding for the same project
• Comply with relevant EU and national environmental legislation and the ‘Do no significant harm’ Technical Guidance

The grant value depends on the size of the company, the type of the project and the eligible costs of undertaking environmental improvement. Typically grant is 30% up to a cap of €5,000,000 for projects. The grant rate can range from 15% to 55% of the eligible costs, depending on the category of environmental aid and the size of the company. The eligible costs include capital expenditure, consultancy fees, staff costs and other direct costs.

The applicant must provide the following documents along with the online application form:

• A copy of the tax clearance certificate
• A copy of the quotation from the approved provider
• A completed project plan template

Once the IDA has the Climate Action Plan from a client company, IDA  looks at the capital support options most suitable to you, such as the ‘Environmental Aid Programme’ or the ‘Sustainable Recovery Fund’.

These grants provide financial support for implementing major renewable and energy efficiency projects. These tend to be large-scale capital intensive projects (millions or upper hundreds of thousands). The grant application ideally has a complementary mix of projects (e.g. solar panels + heat pumps). These grants are for incentivising clients to invest far beyond existing legally binding environmental standards.

• Renewable energy technologies e.g. on-site generation such as wind-turbines, solar farms.
• Pioneering projects e.g. on-site battery storage and infrastructure, hydrogen infrastructure.
• Manufacturing equipment that is far more efficient, or can run on zero emissions fuel, or is electric instead of fossil-fuel-powered such as heat pumps.

IDA would pay a % of the eligible expenditure of a project (often 20-25% but can be far more/less, difficult to say before the grant has been applied for).