FINANCIAL SUPPORT PROGRAMS

(1)

FINANCIAL SUPPORT PROGRAMS

9

9 Financial Support Programs

(2)

Version 1. (21/10/13) www.mgaeeip.com.au

9 Financial Support Programs

There are a number of Government support mechanisms to help reduce the barriers to undertaking action on energy efficiency. There is support in the form of information, links to service delivery agents, funding support to reduce the upfront capital cost of equipment upgrades and financial instruments like loans or leasing arrangements that can also reduce the cost of implementation.

The information in this section has been prepared to assist you to understand what grants are available to assist in reducing your energy use and achieve efficiencies within your operations. They have been compiled from a number of sources and are summarised into a table that separate the finding programs based on national or state.

The information detailed herein is correct and current as at 28 February 2013.

Disclaimer:

The information and data contained herein, has been provided by Equilibrium for general information purposes only and on the understanding that Equilibrium is not providing professional advice on a particular matter.

While Equilibrium takes care in the compilation and provision of the information and data, it does not assume or accept any liability for the accuracy, quality, suitability and currency of the information or data, or for any reliance on the information or data. Equilibrium recommends that before relying on the information and data, users should independently verify its accuracy, completeness and relevance for their purposes and that it is up-to-date.

This document contains links to web sites that are external to Equilibrium. Equilibrium takes reasonable care in providing the links to the web sites but has no direct control over the content of the linked sites, or the changes that may occur to the content on those sites.

Before any action or decision is taken on the basis of any information and data contained herein, the user should obtain appropriate independent professional advice.

9 FINANCIAL SUPPORT PROGRAMS

(3)

9.1 Financial support matrix

This matrix enables you to determine which programs offer support to activities outlined in this Handbook. Most of the programs offer information. However, the other types of support offered are denoted by the following key:

A = grant for an audit

C = subsidy / grant for capital (upgrades, new equipment) L = finance to support procurement of equipment (leasing, loan) R = rebate to owners / installers

Energy supply Energy demand Refrigerators & freezers HVAC Lighting Hot water Equipment & appliances New Store design Alterative energy

Jurisdiction Program Focus Area

Australia Low Carbon Australia (Energy Efficiency Program)

L L L L L L L

NSW Energy Efficiency for Small Businesses Program

C C C C C

Energy Efficiency for Medium to Large Organisations

A

Energy Saving Scheme R R R R R R

Sustainability Advantage Energy Saver A Victoria Smarter Resources, Smarter Business

Program

A C C C C C

Victorian Energy Efficiency Target (VEET) Scheme

R R R R R

Queensland Solar Bonus Scheme R

Tasmania Renewable Energy Loan Scheme L

SA Resource Efficiency Assistance Program (REAP)

A

NT ecoBiz NT A C C C C C

ACT ACT Smart Business, Energy and Water Program

A C C C C C

(4)

9.2 Australian government

Department - Low Carbon Australia

Low Carbon Australia

www.lowcarbonaustralia.com.au

Contact - (07) 3188 1600 or info@carbontrustaustralia.com.au.

Low Carbon Australia has been established by the Australian Government as an independent company with over

$100 million initial funding.

Low Carbon Australia provides financial solutions and advice to Australian business, Government and the wider community to encourage action on energy efficiency, cost-effective carbon reductions and accreditation for carbon neutral products and organisations.

Australian Carbon Trust manages two innovative programs:

• An Energy Efficiency Program, to provide finance and advice to eligible businesses and the public sector for the retrofit of commercial properties

• The Carbon Neutral Program, which provides accreditation for organisations that have products or operations being certified as carbon neutral under the National Carbon Offset Standard.

The Energy Efficiency Program:

Australian Carbon Trust intends to invest up to $23.7 million through innovative energy efficiency financing programs with NAB and Eureka Funds Management, All Leasing, Origin Energy, Australia Post and Melbourne City Council.

The Carbon Neutral Program:

The program s the successor to the Greenhouse Friendly™ initiative initially administered by the department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency. It enables organisations to gain certification for offsetting the emissions associated with individual product lines or their business operations.

(5)

9.3 New South Wales

Department - Environment and heritage

Energy Efficiency For Small Businesses Program

www.environment.nsw.gov.au/sustainbus/smallbusenergy.htm Contact - (02) 8837 6000 or energysaver@savepower.nsw.gov.au.

Available to businesses that use up to approximately $20,000 in electricity a year or have up to about 10 fulltime employees.

The Program offers:

• A subsidised energy assessment and tailored energy action plan

• 50% off installation costs up to $5,000 (for businesses using $5,000-$20,000 a year in electricity) and up to

$2,000 (for businesses using less than $5,000 a year in electricity)

• Coordination assistance by an assessor to install energy saving improvements, at no cost to the business (up to four hours).

Energy assessment:

Businesses pay only $75 or $150, depending on electricity use, to the assessor at the time of the assessment or when they receive their Energy Action Plan.

50% off costs for energy efficient improvements

The subsidy is for implementing energy efficiency improvements as outlined in the Energy Action Plan, including:

• Lighting and skylights

• Heating, ventilation, air-conditioning and insulation

• Electric motors

• Air compressors

• Commercial refrigeration

• Boilers

• Insulation

• Hot water systems.

Businesses that registered for the Energy Efficiency for Small Business Program before 31 December 2012 and are eligible for matched funding, must have submitted funding applications by 2 April 2013.

Eligibility:

Available to businesses that spend up to about $20,000 in electricity a year, or employ up to 10 staff.

(6)

Energy efficiency for medium to large organisations

www.environment.nsw.gov.au/sustainbus/energyauditing.htm Contact - 1300 361 967 or energysaver@savepower.nsw.gov.au.

Subsidised energy audits and facilitation to assist NSW businesses identify and implement energy savings. An extra

$20 million will allow Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water (DECCW) to work with an additional 800 medium to large organisations on leading-edge waste, water and energy saving measures, until June 2013, cutting energy use in these businesses by at least 10%.

From 1 January 2013, Energy Saver will provide services to small businesses, as well as medium to large business sites in NSW. Energy Saver will be a single point of business support and helps reduce energy consumption and costs, through:

• Subsidising energy assessments and audits

• Providing technical support for energy efficiency projects

• Providing energy efficiency resources and training.

Select from three levels of energy audit (each level exceeds Australian Standard AS/NZS 3598:2000)

Audit Scope Audit cost

(estimate)*

Subsidy Large organisation contribution (estimate) Level 1 Operational overview

and site walk-through

$2,000 - $15,000 80% $400 - $3,000*

Level 2 Detailed investigation and analysis

$8,000 - $30,000 70% $2,400 - $9,000*

Level3 ** In-depth investigation and analysis, often involves sub-metering of equipment

$15,000 - $40,000 50% $7,500 - $20,000*

**Only recommended if proceeded by Level 2 energy audit

Energy saving scheme

www.ess.nsw.gov.au/Home Contact - ess@ipart.nsw.gov.au.

The Energy Savings Scheme (ESS) requires electricity retailers to save energy by improving energy efficiency in households and businesses. The energy savings target, when the scheme started on 1 July 2009, was 0.4% of electricity sales in NSW and this will increase to 4% of sales by 2014.

Over the next decade this will help reduce future rises in household electricity bills by an average of $50 each year, support up to 1000 jobs and stimulate the growing energy efficiency industry with up to $1 billion of additional investment.

(7)

Sustainability advantage energy saver

www.environment.nsw.gov.au/sustainbus/sustainabilityadvantage.htm Contact - (02) 8837 6000 or sustainbus@environment.nsw.gov.au.

Good environmental performance reduces risk, lowers costs, improves productivity and enhances reputation.

The Office of Environment and Heritage NSW invites applications and partnerships to boost environmental performance of medium to large businesses.

Over 630 organisations are currently working with the Sustainability Advantage Program to:

• Manage environmental risk and ensure compliance

• Use resources more efficiently

• Integrate environmental strategies with business planning

• Measure their carbon footprint and manage their emissions

• Enhance customer, supplier and community relationships and

• Engage and train staff to become an employer of choice.

Sustainability advantage makes sense of ‘all the noise about’ sustainability, pinpoints how your business can benefit and provides a clear path for action. Rather than creating extra work, we can help you focus your efforts to enable you to deliver the best results for your company and for the environment.

9.4 Victoria

Department - Sustainability Victoria

Smarter Resources, Smarter Business Program

www.sustainability.vic.gov.au/www/html/3601-smarter-resources-smarter-business-program.asp?intSiteID=4 Contact - 1300 363 744 or srsbprogram@sustainability.vic.gov.au.

The Smarter Resources, Smarter Business Program is a $10 million, three year program that assists medium-sized businesses to improve their resource efficiency.

By using energy and materials more efficiently, businesses can reduce their ope rating costs and environmental impacts.

The Program provides businesses with:

• Access to targeted information, tools and resources to assist businesses to better understand and improve their resource efficiency

• Funding assistance to identify and implement resource efficiency improvements

• A business support program to facilitate leadership and networking opportunities

• A recognition program to acknowledge those businesses that have implemented resource efficient practices.

Eligibility: The Program is designed to support medium-sized businesses (defined as having between 20 and 199 employees) operating in Victoria. Commonwealth, State and local government entities, industry and professional associations, are not eligible to apply.

Businesses with less than 20 employees are not eligible for the Smarter Resources, Smarter Business Program.

(8)

Department - Essential Services Commission

Victorian Energy Efficiency Target (VEET) Scheme

www.veet.vic.gov.au/Public/Public.aspx?id=Home

Contact - (03) 9032 1310 during business hours or email your query to veet@esc.vic.gov.au.

This ‘tradeable certificate’ Scheme is aimed at increasing consumer energy efficiency, reducing emissions and promoting investment, employment and innovation in energy efficiency industries.

Accredited installers offer householders and businesses around 30 prescribed energy efficiency activities designed to reduce their energy use. The installers can convert these to Victorian Energy Efficiency Certificates (VEEC).

The VEECs are typically sold to large energy retailers in Victoria, which are required by law, to surrender a certain number each year.

Under the Scheme, accredited businesses can offer discounts and special offers on selected energy saving products and appliances installed at homes, businesses or other non-residential premises. The bigger the greenhouse gas reduction, the bigger the potential saving.

For more details about which products feature on the public registers, visit the Products Register page. If you are interested in installing a category of product that is not listed on a public register, you will need to contact an accredited business directly to see what products they have had approved for use under the scheme.

1. Water heating

2. Space heating and cooling*

3. Space conditioning*

4. Incandescent lighting replacement 5. Shower roses

6. Refrigerators/freezers 7. Televisions

8. Clothes dryers 9. Pool pumps

10. Standby power controllers 11. In-home displays

12. Motors**

13. Refrigerated Display Cabinets**

14. Refrigeration fans**

15. Commercial lighting upgrades**

* A number of activities in this category are only available to residential premises.

** These activities are only available to the business and non-residential sector.

(9)

9.5 Queensland

Department - Energy and Water Supply

Solar bonus scheme

www.cleanenergy.qld.gov.au/demand-side/solar-bonus-scheme.htm?utm_source=CLEANEENERGY&utm_

medium=301&utm_campaign=redirection

Contact - 13 43 87 or solarbonus@dews.qld.gov.au.

The Queensland Government Solar Bonus Scheme (the Scheme) pays eligible customers for the surplus electricity generated from solar photovoltaic (PV) panel systems, which is exported to the Queensland electricity grid. The Scheme is designed to make solar power more affordable for Queenslanders, stimulate the solar power industry and encourage energy efficiency.

The Scheme compensates customers for energy exported to the electricity grid whenever they generate more energy than they use - not just the balance at the end of the quarter, but whenever generation exceeds consumption during the day.

Customers wishing to join the Scheme will need a solar PV system installed on their premises and have it connected to the electricity grid.

To be eligible for the Solar Bonus at the 8 cent rate, customers must:

• Purchase and install a new solar PV system or operate an existing system that is connected to the Queensland electricity grid with inverter capacity not exceeding 5 kilowatts

• Consume less than 100 megawatt hours (MWh) of electricity a year (the average home uses approximately 7.2MWh a year)

• Hold an electricity account with an electricity retailer for the premises where the solar PV system is installed

• Have a connection agreement in place with an electricity distributor

• Only submit one application per premise.

9.6 Tasmania

Department - Economic Development, Tourism and Arts

The Renewable Energy Loan Scheme (RELS)

www.development.tas.gov.au/economic/funding/loans/Industry_funding_programs/renewable_energy_loan_

scheme

Contact - 1800 440 026 or businesspoint@development.tas.gov.au.

The Renewable Energy Loan Scheme (RELS) will assist eligible businesses to purchase and install renewable energy generation facilities or manufacture renewable energy technology.

The Scheme includes low-interest loans under the $30 million Renewable Energy Loan Fund announced in the 2010-11 Tasmanian State Budget and associated top-up grants (capped at $100 000) to assist with the commercial viability of eligible projects.

Applications will be assessed on a competitive basis and approval of loans may depend on the availability of funds. The scheme will be open until 30 June 2014 and is subject to an annual review.

A client manager will be assigned to help with the loan application process.

(10)

9.7 South Australia

Department - Zero waste Australia

Resource Efficiency Assistance Program (REAP)

www.zerowaste.sa.gov.au/grants/reap

Contact - John Blumson (08) 8204 2043 or Andrew Hutcheon (08) 8204 8143

Companies are assisted to measure their resource usage through auditing waste, energy, water, systems and plant efficiency. Funded for Medium to large businesses and companies with less than 20 employees, Zero Waste SA is co-funding the S1K Project, which assesses resource use and provides companies with a written report of where savings can be made.

Funding: Zero Waste SA funds 100% of Stage 1 walk-through waste assessment and report. The Stage 2 waste audit and development of a resource management plan is subsidised with the business to a maximum of $25,000.

9.8 Northern Territory

Department - Business

ecoBiz NT

www.ecobiznt.nt.gov.au

Contact - (08) 8999 5309 or ecoBizNT@nt.gov.au.

ecoBiz NT is a program that helps Territory businesses adopt resource-efficient practices that are good for their financial bottom line as well as for the environment. It is aimed at small to medium enterprises looking for ways to improve how they do business, while reducing costs and improving their environmental efficiency.

The ecoBiz NT advice program is a simple six-step plan to assist businesses begin achieving cost savings and improving their environmental efficiency.

Participating businesses may also become eligible for grants that support implementing eco-efficiency initiatives.

Grants are available to eligible businesses and projects with grants of 50% up to a maximum of $20,000 to assist eligible businesses.

9.9 Australian Capital Territory

Department - ACT Government

ACTSmart Business, Energy and Water Program

www.actsmart.act.gov.au/your_business/actsmart_business_energy_and_water_program Contact - 13 22 81 or actsmart@act.gov.au

If you are the owner of a business operating in the ACT with electricity bills of up to $20,000 per annum and/or you employ up to 10 full time staff, you may be eligible to join the ACTSmart Business Energy and Water program.

The program aims to reduce energy and water use in businesses while lowering operating costs and greenhouse gas emissions. If your business is thinking about upgrading equipment such as lighting, heating or cooling,

refrigeration, toilets or tapware, you will only have to contribute half the cost towards upgrading to more energy or water efficient products (up to $5,000).