Project development funding streams help to advance the capacity of local authorities, community groups, private sector organisations and other stakeholders to advance climate projects. The activities matched to this funding include policy support projects, feasibility studies, pilot projects and other climate technologies and initiatives. A variety of the funding streams also provide for cross- border collaboration, which brings the added value of sharing experiences of existing and emerging best practice, both across Ireland and at European level.
National Funding for Project Development
Enterprise Ireland Green Transition Fund
Budget: Over €55million.
The Green Transition Fund supports companies across each of the different aspects of their decarbonisation journey – from initial planning and capability building to investment, research and innovation. It is designed to support companies, whether starting out or already on the journey, to take action now and get ready for the low carbon, more resource efficient economy of the future.
Green Start
GreenStart grant helps Irish businesses to improve their environmental performance through greater resource efficiency, driving competitive advantage and reducing costs. This can be achieved through a structured environmental management and reporting system, developing a decarbonisation strategy and action plan, and aligning environmental practices to global/irish sustainability reporting initiatives.
Grant Value: €5,000 capped.
Who is eligible: High Potential Startups and businesses.
Percentage funded: Maximum of 80%
Climate Action Voucher
This voucher helps businesses to create a plan for a ‘green transformation’ by reducing emissions and becoming more resource efficient. The voucher provides training or advisory services to kickstart your businesses sustainability journey.
Grant Value: €1,800 capped with a maximum daily rate of €900/maximum course fees of €1,800
Who is eligible: High Potential Startups and businesses.
Percentage funded: - N/A
GreenPlus
With GreenPlus, we can help your business to prepare for a greener, more sustainable future. Hire an external environmental expert. Covers cost of external training courses & e-learning licence costs. Projects are typically 12 months in duration.
Grant Value: €50,000 grant capped.
Who is eligible: Enterprise Ireland Clients seeking to increase environmental management and staff capabilities
Percentage funded: 50% of the eligible project costs up to a maximum of €100,000
Strategic Consultancy Assignment
This grant supports the cost of hiring a strategic consultant to help with the development and/or implementation of strategic sustainable initiatives.
Grant Value: Up to 50% of the costs incurred in hiring a consultant to a maximum grant amount of €35,000.
Who is eligible: Manufacturing or internationally traded services SME companies employing 10-249 people that are Enterprise Ireland clients.
Percentage funded: - N/A
Energy and Environmental Aid
Enterprise Ireland’s Energy & Environmental Aid Fund provides aid to facilitate the development of Irish economic activities to improve environmental protection. A capital grant for impactful environmental projects, enabling transformative decarbonisation and environmental projects
Grant Value: This is a limited fund.
Who is eligible: Applicants must be a client company of Enterprise Ireland or Údarás na Gaeltachta, engaged in manufacturing and/or Internationally Traded Services (ITS).
Percentage funded: - N/A
Capital investment for decarbonisation processes
The Capital Investment for Decarbonisation Processes, funded by the Enterprise Emissions Reduction Investment Fund, assists companies in their decarbonisation efforts by investing in carbon-reducing equipment and technologies.
Grant Value: Maximum grant aid will be €1m per project, with minimum grant aid of €20,000.
Who is eligible: Manufacturing clients of Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland and Údarás na Gaeltachta, subject to the prevailing policies and eligibility criteria of those agencies.
Percentage funded: Grant aid intensity is calculated as a percentage of the eligible project costs, which can vary based on business size.
Enterprise Emissions Reduction Investment Fund - Energy Monitoring and Tracking Systems
This grant is to support companies to put in place energy monitoring and tracking systems to begin accounting for the carbon footprint of their activities. The fund is operating under the Green Transition Fund, the overall objective of which is to accelerate the decarbonisation of Irish enterprise, as part of Ireland’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan, funded by the European Union.
Grant Value: Minimum grant aid of €5,000, up to a maximum of €50,000
Who is eligible: High Potential Startups and businesses.
Percentage funded: 50%
The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland Project Assistance Scheme is a grant for businesses and public sector bodies with annual energy bills over €250,000.
The grant can assist in developing projects to reduce energy consumption and costs and to build good procurement practices. It applies for energy saving projects associated with buildings, industry, commercial operations, transport and utility services. Utilisation of this grant also results in enhanced reputation for the organisation, improved competitiveness, improved engagement with employees on energy efficiency and an ability to divert incurred savings to other activities.
Home Grants:
National Home Energy Upgrade Scheme
A complete home energy upgrade. Fully managed by a registered One Stop Shop. Multiple upgrades achieving a minimum BER B2. Grant deducted from cost of works upfront.
Grant Value: The grant amount get for each upgrade depends on the type of property you have. For example, the grant you get to insulate a detached house is more than the grant you get to insulate an apartment.
Who is eligible: Homeowners, private landlords and Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) whose home or property meets SEAI’s criteria.
Percentage funded: Varies between properties.
Better Energy Homes and Solar PV
Grants for individual home energy upgrades. Upgrade your home on a step-by-step basis. Manage your own project. Choose contractors from the SEAI register.
Grant Value: The grant amount get for each upgrade depends on the type of property you have. The minimum loan amount is €5,000.
Who is eligible: Properties owned by; Owner occupiers, Landlords of tenanted properties, Companies including Owner Management Companies, Approved Housing Bodies (AHB), Registered Charities, Holiday Homes whose property meets SEAI’s criteria.
Percentage funded: Varies between properties.
Warmer Homes Scheme.
Fully funded energy upgrades. Eligibility criteria apply. For homes built and occupied before 2006. Works recommended by an SEAI surveyor
Grant Value: Grant is fully funded.
Who is eligible: Homeowners who receive the specific welfare payments.
Percentage funded: 100%
Electric vehicle grants
Privately bought EVs
Grant Value: Minimum €1,500. Maximum €3,500
Who is eligible: A new M1 (passenger car) battery electric vehicle (BEVs) when purchased privately. Approved EVs with a full price of more than €60,000 and less than €14,000.
Percentage funded: The grant amount will depend on the list price of the vehicle.
Commercially bought EVs
Grant Value: Minimum €2,000. Maximum €3,800
Who is eligible: A new N1 (light commercial vehicle) category electric vehicle for business, public entities and private individuals. Approved EVs with a full price of more than €60,000 and less than €14,000.
Percentage funded: The grant amount will depend on the list price of the vehicle.
Grants also exist for large panel vans and electric motorcycles.
Electric vehicle home charger grant
Value: Maximum €300
Who is eligible: residents and homeowners to install an electric vehicle charge point on their property. will only support smart chargers which are registered on SEAI's Smart Charger Register. meeting all Applicant Eligibility criteria
Percentage funded: The grant amount will depend on the price of the charger.
The SEAI Energy Efficiency Obligation Scheme allows energy suppliers or distributors who sell large amounts of energy e.g. electricity, gas and solid fuel to offer supports to make homes or businesses more energy efficient.
SEAI Support Scheme for Renewable Heat
The SEAI's scheme offers financial support to businesses that switch to renewable heat. These supports include:
- Operational support for a biomass and biogas heating system
- An installation grant for a commercial heat pump.
SSRH is open to commercial, industrial, agricultural, district heating, public sector and other non-domestic heat users.
Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme
The Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (SICAP) 2024-2028 provides funding to tackle poverty and social exclusion at a local level through local engagement and partnerships between disadvantaged individuals, community organisations and public sector agencies. This funding has a Budget of €44.3 million.
IDA "Go Green" Offer
The IDA Ireland GO Green Offer supports IDA clients to adopt green business principles that increases environmental efficiencies and competitiveness along with an increased awareness of environmental issues and sustainability.
LEADER
The LEADER programme accepts applications based on projects which improve: rural tourism, enterprise development, broadband, basic services targeted at hard-to-reach communities, rural youth, protection and sustainable use of water resources, local biodiversity and renewable energy. The LEADER programme is administered at a local level by 29 local action groups, which contain local representatives from the community, public and private sector. Each group is responsible for selecting and awarding LEADER funding to projects within their geographical area. The programme budget provides €180 million in financial grant aid. More information on LEADER can be found at this page: LEADER Rural Development
Fisheries Local Action Groups (FLAGs)
The FLAG scheme is a five year fisheries local development programme which has been allocated €15 million funding under the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) Operational Programme. There are seven Fisheries Local Action Groups (FLAGs) recently selected as part of a competitive process under the community led local development element of the €240 million EMFF Operational Programme. The funding is 50% financed by the EU. The seven FLAG areas are North East (Louth, Meath, Dublin), South East (Wicklow, Wexford, Waterford), South (Cork), South West (Kerry), West (Galway, Clare), North West (Mayo, Sligo), North (Donegal).
This initiative is focused on community-led development to enhance the economic opportunities and social sustainability of Fisheries and Aquaculture dependent areas. Each FLAG has, through a process of public consultation developed a Local development Strategy, aimed at supporting job creation, adding value, promoting innovation as well as enhancing environmental assets and promoting each area’s maritime cultural heritage.
European Funding for Project Development
Copernicus Masters
The Copernicus Masters is a global innovation competition which encourages participants to showcase the benefits of the Copernicus services across various sectors including agriculture, green energies and climate change among others. The competition fosters ideas on using Earth Observation Data to tackle global challenges, and supports winners in further developing their solutions.
ELENA
ELENA - European Energy Assistance provides grants for technical assistance for the implementation of energy efficiency, distributed renewable energy and urban transport programmes. The grant can be used for finance costs related to feasibility and market studies, programme structuring, business plans, energy audits and financial structuring, contractual arrangements and project implementation units as well as preparation of tendering procedures.
EU Innovation Fund
EU Innovation Fund focuses on highly innovative technologies and big flagship projects with European value added that could bring on significant emission reductions. The fund supports cross-cutting projects on innovative low-carbon solutions that lead to emission reductions in multiple sectors.The activities typically supported include the development of products, which substitute carbon intensive ones, carbon capture, and utilisation, the construction and operation of carbon capture and storage, renewable energy generation and energy storage.
European Urban Initiative
The EU Urban Initiative supports EU cities of all sizes in evidence-based strategy and policy making on sustainable urban development. EUI helps cities build their capacity and share knowledge to develop transferable and scalable innovation solutions to urban challenges of EU relevance. The EUI is funded by the European Union, with a total ERDF
budget of €450m for 2021-27.
Driving Urban Transitions
Driving Urban Transitions - DUT Partnership provides support to tackle urban challenges. Through research, innovation and capacity building, it enables local authorities and municipalities, service and infrastructure providers, and citizens to translate global strategies into local action. There is a
€450m indicative budget for 2022 -2028. It develops the skills and tools to make urban change happen and boost urban transformations towards a sustainable future with enhanced quality of life in cities.
New European Bauhaus
From 2025 onwards, the New European Bauhaus (NEB) is set to have its first-ever multiannual funding tool, the NEB Facility, that aims to revitalise neighbourhoods through design for sustainability and inclusion.
Adopted by the Commission in March 2024, it will anchor the NEB in the EU multi-annual programming from 2025 to 2027. It is a cross-cutting tool that combines different funding instruments of the Commission and covers the full cycle of implementation of solutions – from research and innovation to deployment – through its two components:
- The Research & Innovation component, anchored in Horizon Europe, will cover actions from research to testing and demonstration, with a yearly indicative budget of EUR 120 million.
- The Roll-out component, building on the support to the New European Bauhaus already gathered from other eight EU programmes, will deploy solutions for the built environment, aiming to increase their impact on the ground. The Roll-out component aims to match the budget ambition of the R&I component through investments across various EU programmes over the next 3 years
Upcoming funding opportunities:
Currently open and forthcoming calls - New European Bauhaus