New green savings are more accessible.What and how to ask for

New green savings are more accessible.What and how to ask for

The New Green Savings subsidy program supports energy-saving buildings or renovations, renewable energy sources and, now, also adaptation to a changing climate. The Ministry of the Environment and the State Environmental Fund are now coming up with a number of innovations.

From October 12, even those who did not receive them before can apply for subsidies. It is now possible to submit the application without visiting the office. Individual contributions are also increasing.

Extensions, bonuses and other news

Owners and builders of housing units located anywhere in the Czech Republic can also apply for a contribution. According to the previous rules, they could apply only for apartments in Prague, while others could only draw support from the Integrated Regional Operational Program (IROP). Nothing changes in this regard for the owners of family houses - they could already apply throughout the country.

In the past, the subsidy was not available even to the owners of recreational facilities. Now they can access subsidies if they have a permanent residence in the building - regardless of where the building is located in the Czech Republic.

The improvements include the increase of some contributions, for example the maximum subsidy for apartment buildings to 50% of the total price of improvements.

The Ministry also unified New Green Savings and the previously separate Rainwater program aimed at effective management of rainwater.

Bonus for combinations of individual measures within the framework of the New Green Savings are a fundamental innovation. Thanks to them, you can get up to 90,000 CZK extra for the construction or reconstruction of a family house and 120,000 CZK for apartment buildings.

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If you apply for support for the reconstruction or construction of a family home, you will receive CZK 10,000 for each selected combination. This means that if you use the subsidy for insulation and photovoltaics, you will receive an extra 10,000 CZK. If you add a Raincoat to these two measures, you will receive 20,000 CZK.

For residential construction, the bonus is even higher: CZK 20,000 for each combination. For example, insulation and photovoltaics will bring a bonus of CZK 20,000, and if you add a raincoat, you will get a bonus of CZK 40,000. Another bonus will be paid by the ministry for a combination with boiler subsidies: CZK 20,000.

However, you will not get the bonus when using any two or more measures, but only for selected combinations. The list of measures that cannot be combined can be found in the Mandatory Instructions for Applicants. For the online form, the specific combination will be offered directly by the subsidy application system.

Residents of structurally affected regions (Karlovary, Moravian-Silesian and Ústí regions) will receive a 10% bonus in addition to the subsidy. The subsidy for specific measures will then be increased by this amount.

You can now apply online

Transferring the entire application process to online mode is a major simplification. From October, electronic submission on the New Green Savings website is all you need to process. All communication with applicants will be done online.

New Green Savings is more accessible. What for and how to apply

In order to approve the contribution, you must provide documents proving that all conditions have been met. This is mainly about project documentation prepared by an authorized person (authorized architect, engineer, technician active in construction) and an energy assessment prepared by an energy specialist and holder of authorization according to the Energy Management Act. You will also provide invoices, confirmation of payment, documents proving successful implementation and a document proving ownership of the bank account. In the event that you are represented by a third person during the negotiations, you also provide proof of power of attorney. If the property is owned by several people, you are also sending the consent statement of the co-owners of the property.

The required documents no longer need to be delivered in person to the regional office of the State Environmental Fund - it is enough to convert them into an electronic format and send them via data mailbox, e-mail, via the Information System for electronic registration of applications or by post on a flash drive or other data medium. When you choose e-mail, you must either electronically sign each of the attached documents or the e-mail itself (then the documents it contains will also be considered signed). If you send the request via the data box, no further verification is needed.

You will have to wait a few weeks for the application to be evaluated. First, there will be a formal review of the application, then a verification of the technical requirements, and then a review of the implementation of the measures. Each of these phases takes two to three weeks, so you can expect six to nine weeks in total. If any deficiencies are found during the inspection, the fund will ask you to remove them. You have 30 days to do it. After that, all you have to do is wait for the approval report and subsidy payment.

You can apply for a subsidy before and after you implement the project, i.e. for the entire duration of the program. The director of the fund, Petr Valdman, clarifies that both options – before and after implementation – are from the perspective of the above and the offer of support equivalent, but the overwhelming majority of applicants choose to apply in advance. "In the event that deficiencies are discovered in the project after the application has been submitted, for example that the building does not meet the parameters given by the program, it is easier to make adjustments to the project before its implementation than to make additional adjustments to the already completed building and implemented measures," he explains.

An exception may apply to large projects where a legal entity applies for a subsidy. These are so-called applications subject to public support under the block exemption regime, where the application must be submitted before work begins.

According to the statement of the state fund, you don't have to worry about subsidies running out in the first few days. "11 billion crowns are reserved from the National Recovery Plan for the New Green to Savings program. Rather, we recommend that you first familiarize yourself with the conditions for obtaining a subsidy, prepare all the documents, and only then submit a request for a subsidy," advises Valdman.

An important condition is that you implement the project for which you want a subsidy after January 1, 2021, and at the same time all documents proving its implementation have been issued after this date.

What you can use subsidies for

New Green Savings support can be used not only for the renovation of family and apartment buildings, but also for holiday homes if you use them for permanent housing. The subsidized changes include the insulation of the facade, roof, ceilings and the replacement of windows and doors.

Furthermore, you can use the support for the construction and purchase of passive houses (family and apartment buildings), solar, thermal and photovoltaic systems, the establishment of green roofs, outdoor shading techniques, controlled ventilation systems with recuperation, obtaining heat from waste water and building heating systems water.

You can also apply for a subsidy when replacing an old boiler or other existing heat source with a biomass boiler, heat pump, condensing boiler or when connecting to a central heat supply.

Thanks to the connection with the Dešťovka program, New Green Savings also applies to the establishment of storage tanks for collecting rainwater, which you can use for watering the garden or as utility water. You are also entitled to a subsidy when installing water heating systems.

Owners of electric cars can apply for a grant for the purchase and installation of a charging station for a passenger vehicle.

As part of the program, the ministry also provides a subsidy for tree planting. The condition is that the planting will take place on the plots of the apartment building that are accessible to the public.

A calculator will help with the calculation

During the fall, the State Environmental Fund plans to offer subsidy applicants a simple online calculator, which they can use to calculate the amount of the subsidy for a specific project. However, according to Valdman, each applicant can do the basic assessment himself. "In the case of insulation, it is sufficient to know the approximate areas of the insulation structures, in the case of a photovoltaic power plant, the installed power," he describes. "With a basic assessment, we are of course ready to help on the customer line and at regional workplaces," he adds.

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However, Valdman recommends contacting energy specialists, designers or suppliers to calculate the subsidy. "For those interested, the program's website has a contact list of experts who have experience with subsidies and are willing to help applicants with the preparation and implementation of measures," he says.

To give you an idea - for modifications to a family home, you will receive:

From October, their owners can receive higher contributions for the construction of apartment buildings:

Who can apply

The following can apply for a contribution from New Green Savings:

Interest is growing

Since 2014, the Ministry of the Environment has accepted 85,000 applications and distributed 11 billion crowns. This year saw a 45% increase in the number of applications submitted.

The current program will be followed by a new stage in October, which will offer a total of 11 billion crowns from the National Recovery Plan. By 2030, the ministry is counting on the involvement of other sources, especially revenues from the sale of emission allowances or money from the Modernization Fund. In total, the program should dispose of at least 39 billion crowns in the next decade.

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Kateřina Jungvirtová

She studied business and worked as a copywriter after school. He has been working with the editors of NextPage Media since 2021. When he is not writing, he is sitting at the piano, reading a good book, walking his dog or traveling. Other articles by the author.

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