A Programme of Financial Incentives for Investments in Energy Efficiency and Decarbonization for the Period 2024–2030

Pursuant to the third paragraph of Article 7 of the Act on the Supportive Environment for Entrepreneurship (Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia, Nos. 102/07, 57/12, 82/13, 17/15, 27/17, 13/18 – ZSInv, and 40/23 – ZZrID-A; hereinafter ZPOP-1), the competent Ministry has prepared a programme of measures setting forth the requirements and criteria for allocation of financial incentives for entrepreneurship and innovation.

Funding and initiatives for investments in energy efficiency and decarbonization are provided in the European Cohesion Policy Programme for 2021–2027, under Priority 3 - Green Transition for Climate Neutrality, within Specific Objective RSO2.1 - Promoting energy efficiency and reducing greenhouse gas emissions (ERDF) (Cohesion Fund). Under this specific objective, investments will be directed toward measures for the energy renovation of buildings, taking into account sustainable construction and advanced management of systems in and on buildings; more specifically, toward the sub-measure of gradual, comprehensive energy renovation of buildings in the business sector (for business entities, legal entities, or individuals, engaged in economic activity, regardless of their legal form, except for their branches abroad, and who are also owners or co-owners of the buildings in which the measures are carried out), whereby funding will be provided for complementary renewable energy measures that contribute to energy efficiency objectives.

The content of the financial incentives is defined in the document “Key Elements of Financial Instruments in the 2021–2027 Programming Period” and in the “Implementation Plan for Financial Instruments for 2026 and 2027 of the 2021–2027 Programming Period.”

Financial instruments will be implemented in the form of debt financing instruments (guarantees, loans), which, for certain financial products, may also be combined with grant funding (i.e., a financial instrument combined with program support in the form of grants—PEKP 2021–2027).

The purpose of the Programme is to encourage companies to decarbonize more quickly and to adopt new low-carbon and energy-efficient technologies that are otherwise difficult to afford and access. This also reduces energy consumption, which is important for maintaining competitiveness in a time of rising energy prices. The measure is therefore aimed at supporting energy efficiency (EE) and decarbonization projects, guided by the principle of “energy efficiency first.”

The goal of the Programme is to reduce energy consumption and decarbonize the economy through the diversification of energy sources, the electrification of production processes—thereby reducing dependence on fossil fuels, lowering greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and promoting the use of renewable energy sources (RES) in industry—specifically by co-financing companies’ investments in new technologies and other investments aimed at achieving these objectives.