Investment aid for the construction and operation of solar photovoltaic power plants following a call for projects

Last update

A new investment aid to encourage the construction and operation of solar photovoltaic power plants in Luxembourg is now available to companies.

This aid applies to the installation of power plants for the production of electricity from solar photovoltaic energy:

  • on the outer shells of buildings, in economic activity areas (ZAE) or as shading devices; and
  • intended primarily for own consumption of the electricity produced (not excluding the possibility of collective or shared self-consumption within an energy community).

Any surplus electricity can be sold on the market.

The aid is awarded following a call for projects. The call for projects is a competitive procedure: projects requesting the least amount of aid in relation to the installed capacity will be selected, within the limits of the available budget.

This call for projects is limited to a maximum budget of EUR 20 million and will run from 15 July 2023 to 31 October 2023.

Applications for investment aid must be submitted via the MyGuichet.lu platform and the relevant specifications can be consulted here (French, Pdf, 1.01 Mb). An FAQ (French, Pdf, 1.12 Mb) is also available.

Please note: this call for projects should not be confused with the call for tenders to award a market premium; at present, there is no call for tenders underway. If such a call for tenders would be launched before 31 October, the same project may not be submitted simultaneously in this call for projects and in the new call for tender.

Who is concerned?

This aid is aimed at all legal persons (SA, SARL, cooperatives) who:

  • are established in Luxembourg;
  • are engaged in an economic activity as their main occupation;
  • invest in solar photovoltaic power plants; and
  • meet the general conditions that apply in this matter.

Businesses in difficulty are not eligible.

Luxinnovation is the preferred contact point for businesses, and assists them in their administrative procedures. Luxinnovation can be contacted at the following email address: aides@luxinnovation.lu.

Deadlines

The first consumption of electricity produced by the plant must take place within 18 months after the aid is granted. If this time limit cannot be met for duly justified reasons beyond the company's control, more time may be granted upon written request to the ministers.

The call for projects with a maximum budget of EUR 20 million, divided into 4 lots, will run from 15 July 2023 until 31 October 2023.

How to proceed

Allowable costs

Investments related to the installation of the plant.

Operating costs and costs involved in complying with legal, regulatory or administrative requirements in force are not eligible.

The allowable costs do not include taxes or other deductions. The list of allowable costs is set out below:

  • purchase and installation of electrical equipment (photovoltaic modules, inverters, junction boxes, cabling, etc.);
  • purchase of the structural elements supporting the modules;
  • engineering and development costs;
  • setting up the connection (connection costs, transformer, civil engineering works);
  • storage (with a capacity of no more than 1 kWh per 1 kWp of the plant).

Please note: one application for aid must be submitted per plant and per installation site.

Competition and project selection

For each lot, tenders received within the deadline and not eliminated under the provisions set out in the tender specifications are ranked:

  • by reference aid amount Ar (specified in the application form), the lowest amount of aid per installed capacity (EUR/kWp);
  • in case of equal reference aid amounts, by ascending power output;
  • in case of equal reference aid amount and power output, by a lottery between the ex-aequo application files.

For each lot, tenders are selected in ascending order of the ranking established by the method described above, until the last tender chosen allows to exactly reach the maximum amount of aid for the lot under consideration. If the maximum amount of aid is exceeded for the lot concerned, the last eligible tender that led to the maximum amount being exceeded is removed and the award process is stopped.

In case of under-subscription of lot(s), a competitiveness clause is provided for, as well as a transfer of unallocated amounts. The competitiveness clause implies that no more than 90 % of the admissible projects presented in the context of the call for projects may be selected. If the number of projects submitted is less than 10, at least 1 project will be rejected.

Filing an application

The application for aid must be filed using an online assistant on MyGuichet.lu (see ‘Forms / Online Services’).

The person filing the application (the applicants themselves or their representatives) must have a LuxTrust product (e.g. Token, Smartcard or Signing Stick) or an electronic identity card (eID).

The application must be filed before the commencement of the work.

How to create a business eSpace on MyGuichet.lu

There are 2 possible scenarios:

  1. The person submitting the application is a new user of MyGuichet.lu. They must:
    • first register on MyGuichet.lu; and
    • then create a business eSpace.
  2. The person submitting the application already has a private eSpace on MyGuichet.lu. They can directly create a business eSpace without having to register again.

Further information as well as tutorials in relation with the business eSpace are available in our dedicated help page.

Supporting documents

Applications for aid must include the following information and documents:

  • an organisation chart allowing for the identification of the company and the group (single economic entity) to which the company belongs, forms providing information on the size of the company and possibly the company's statutes;
  • the official annual accounts of the applicant company and related companies (or consolidated group accounts);
  • a bank account identification document;
  • a CCSS certificate stating the number of employees;
  • a certificate of right of use of the installation site;
  • a project description and simplified business plan (excel template provided) ;
  • a quote or offer, if available, otherwise a cost estimate.

Where appropriate, the ministries reserve the right to request information on the contractual relations between the parties involved in order to ascertain the need for the aid.

Maximum amount of financial aid

Lot Power (kWp) Maximum amount of financial aid (EUR/kWp) Maximum aid intensity (%)
Lot 1 > 30 and ≤ 200 (outer shells of buildings; in economic activity areas - ZAE) 745 55
Lot 2 > 200 and ≤ 500 (outer shells of buildings; in economic activity areas - ZAE) 565 50
Lot 3 > 500 and ≤ 5.000 (outer shells of buildings; in economic activity areas - ZAE) 480 45
Lot 4 > 30 et ≤ 5.000 (shading devices) 745 40

No group (single economic entity) may receive aid for one or more projects in an amount exceeding 40 % of the budget per lot.

Online services and forms

Who to contact

Luxinnovation

Related procedures and links

Your opinion matters to us

Tell us what you think of this page. You can leave us your feedback on how to improve this page. You will not receive a reply to your feedback. Please use the contact form for any specific questions you might have.

Fields marked with an asterisk (*) are mandatory.

Did you find what you were looking for?*
How would you rate this page?*
Very poor
Very good

Leave a comment to help us improve this page. Do not provide any personal information such as your email address, name, telephone number, etc.

0/1000

Please rate this page

Your opinion has been submitted successfully!

Thank you for your contribution. If you need help or have any questions, please use the contact form.

Would you like to help us make digital public services more user-friendly by submitting your suggestions for improvement?

Then visit Zesumme Vereinfachen, the online participation platform dedicated to administrative simplification in Luxembourg.

Let's simplify things together

An error occurred

Oops, an error has been detected during your form processing.