Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, through the Agency for Rural Investment Funding, announces the launch of the funding application session to support investments in new electricity production capacities from renewable sources for self-consumption by enterprises in the agricultural and food industry sectors. The allocation set for 2023 is 150 million euros, depending on the installed capacities at the enterprise level:

• 100 million euros for installed capacities less than 1 Megawatt (MW), of which 10 million euros for wind energy and 90 million euros for solar energy;
• 50 million euros, of which 10 million euros for wind energy and 40 million euros for solar energy, for installed capacities greater than 1 MW in total allocation.

The value of the state aid is 100% non-repayable, and potential beneficiaries can submit multiple projects only if the investments target different consumption locations, within the limit of 20,000,000 euros per beneficiary.

Funding requests through the State Aid Scheme to support investments in new electricity production capacities from renewable sources for self-consumption by enterprises in the agricultural and food industry sectors can be submitted on www.afir.ro.

The State Aid Scheme to support investments in new electricity production capacities from renewable sources for self-consumption by enterprises in the agricultural and food industry sectors is financed from the Modernization Fund, managed by the Ministry of Energy. The administrator of the state aid scheme is the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, through the Agency for Rural Investment Funding.

It is important to note that for wind energy, the funding is a maximum of 1,400,000 euros/MW for installed capacities equal to or less than 1 MW and a maximum of 700,000 euros/MW for installed capacities greater than 1 MW.

For solar energy, the support value is up to 1,000,000 euros/MW for installed capacities equal to or less than 1 MW and up to 500,000 euros/MW for installed capacities greater than 1 MW.

Eligible beneficiaries include enterprises in the agricultural sector, enterprises in the food industry sector, agricultural companies, as well as organizations/federations of organizations in the field of land improvement.

!!! IMPORTANT: To support beneficiaries, through Order No. 493/2023 of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, an amendment to the Energy Scheme was approved regarding the proof of registration in the company's status, among other things, for the activity of electricity production corresponding to division 35:

"Production and supply of electric and thermal energy, gas, hot water, and air conditioning," CAEN class 3511 – Production of electric energy, will be presented at the time of contracting. To prepare the necessary documentation for accessing this funding, potential beneficiaries have the Applicant's Guide and the annexes to the State Aid Scheme for renewable energy on the Agency's official website, www.afir.ro, in the Funding section.

The final version of the Applicant's Guide, Version 3, applicable to the open session from November 20 to December 15, 2023, includes several clarifications and additions regarding the scope, category of beneficiaries, and project eligibility.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

The Applicant's Guide for the State Aid Scheme to support investments in new electricity production capacities from renewable sources for self-consumption by enterprises in the agricultural and food industry sectors, Version 3, provides some clarifications to support potential beneficiaries.