Ecology premium plus

Who is eligible

A company must comply with the following conditions:

• the company realises its investments in the Flemish Region;
• the company carries out an acceptable main activity (NACE code) and is not a non-profit organisation;
• the company entered into the energy policy agreement applicable to her on the submission date of he support application;
• on the submission date, the company cannot be in difficulty according to the European rules, has no debts in arrears with the National Social Security Office (‘Rijksdienst voor Sociale Zekerheid’, RSZ) and is not a party to a court case based on European or national law as part of which financial support that has been awarded is being reclaimed.

The investments can be carried out by a patrimony company that belongs to the same group as the enterprise applying for aid.

This applies to the following cases:

1. the patrimony company participates for at least 25 % in the enterprise applying for aid;
2. the enterprise applying for aid participates for at least 25 % in the patrimony company;
3. a natural or legal person participates for at least 25 % in both companies.

Which ecological investments are eligible

The ecology premium is only granted to technologies that are on a limitative technology list (LTL). This list contains about 30 technologies. There is a version of the LTL subdivided into the following three categories:

• environmental technologies;
• energy technologies;
• renewable energy and combined heat and power.

Ecological investments that are eligible for aid through green certificates and cogeneration certificates are not eligible for an ecological premium. The complete limitative technology list (LTL) can be found on www.ecologiepremie.be(opens in new window).

The application is made electronically on www.ecologiepremie.be(opens in new window). In order to secure the personal data to a maximum extent, the entrepreneur must register by means of a federal token or an electronic identity card. An enterprise cannot have started the investments before the first day of the month following the month of the submission date of the ecology premium. The date of the first invoice counts as starting date. The ecological investments must be ended within 3 years following the decision to grant an ecological premium. The termination takes place on the date of the last invoice. Enterprises thus have three years to realise their environmental investments.

The amount of the ecology premium is determined by the performance of the technology in which the investment is made, and varies according to the size of the enterprise and the type of category the technology belongs to.

The subsidy is calculated on the basis of the supplementary investment cost of the eligible investment components and can amount to 1 million euro at most over a period of 3 years.