Green Industry Support Program for SMEs
The Green Industry Support Program, which will be carried out by the Ministry of Industry and Technology, has been published in order to contribute to small and medium-sized enterprises in realizing their green transformation efficiently.
Projects consisting of “Solar Energy Investments and Clean and Circular Economy in Industry” of Industrial SMEs will be supported by KOSGEB with financing from the World Bank.
Within the scope of the program launched to contribute to the green transformation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), “Project Call for Proposals 2023-1 for Supporting Solar Energy Investments of Industrial SMEs” and “Call for Proposals for Clean and Circular Economy Projects in Industry 2023-2” were announced.
What Does a Support Call Cover?
It was reported that within the scope of the first call, projects aimed at increasing the use of renewable energy resources and ensuring the sustainability of clean and reliable energy in the industry will be supported. Within the scope of the second call, projects aimed at adopting green technologies, decarbonization, increasing resource efficiency, reducing waste production, protecting water and implementing sustainable production methods will be supported.
The first requirement for both support calls is that businesses must be in one of the “medium risk”, “low risk”, “good” or “very good” groupings according to the Findeks credit score index. In addition, the financial balance sheet or net sales revenue in the last financial year data of the business must be greater than the total budget of the project.
The business is required to keep books on a balance sheet basis in the last approved financial year and to ensure that the total budget of the project is at least 1,000,000 TL.
For the 2023-1 call, the total energy consumption of the enterprise for the last 12 months before the project application month must be 20 Tons of Oil Equivalent (TEP) / equivalent kilowatt hours (kWh) or above these values. On the other hand, on the application date, the business is required to have a valid “Letter of Invitation for Connection Agreement” received from the authorized institutions/organizations.
Who Can Apply?
SMEs that can apply for project proposal calls must have been established at least 2 years ago as of the announcement date and must be within the definition of SME.
Both support calls can be applied by the relevant activity sections of the manufacturing sector, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles, information and communication, professional, scientific and technical activities and other service activities sectors specified in the guide.
Within the scope of the 2023-1 call, businesses are expected to apply for a project to install and operate a solar energy system on the roof and/or integrated into the building(s) in which they operate.
Within the scope of the 2023-2 call, businesses are expected to apply for projects on the topics of water efficiency, energy efficiency, raw material efficiency, sustainable and climate-resistant waste recycling, industrial symbiosis and circular economy.
The upper support limit was announced as 14,000,000 TL with a refund for the 2023-1 call and 4,000,000 TL with a refund for the 2023-2 call.
For the 2023-1 call, new machinery and equipment expenses can be supported up to 14,000,000 TL. It was reported that for the 2023-2 call, personnel expenses can be supported up to 500,000 TL, new machinery and equipment expenses up to 3,500,000 TL, software expenses up to 500,000 TL, and service procurement expenses up to 500,000 TL.
The project support rate will be 60 percent for the 2023-1 call and 70 percent for the 2023-2 call. This rate rises to 80 percent in the provinces of Adana, Diyarbakır, Elazığ, Gaziantep (except Nurdağı and İslahiye), Kilis, Osmaniye and Şanlıurfa; It can reach up to 90 percent in Adıyaman, Hatay, Kahramanmaraş and Malatya provinces and Gaziantep’s İslahiye and Nurdağı districts.
Projects to be supported must be planned for at least 8 and at most 12 months. In calls where the support is planned to be reimbursable, support repayments will be made in 6 equal installments in four-month periods, with a grace period of 12 months after the end date of the project period. The repayment date of the first installment was determined as the first business day following the 12-month period following the end date of the project period.
The deadline to apply for the Green Industry Support Program for SMEs is 30 November 2024. Applications are made through the application link on KOSGEB’s website.