Energy saving grants

2022 provided a powerful reminder of the cost of energy, and you should be doing everything in your power to reduce this burden. Renovating your home is a particularly good approach. The government, suppliers and municipalities offer various types of support and grants to help with this. myLIFE provides a quick overview of these schemes to help you reduce your energy bills.

Renovating your home to make it greener generally requires major investments but also offers numerous long-term advantages: energy savings, an uplift in the value of the property, a reduction in heating bills and increased comfort. Energy renovation focuses on improving the energy performance of your home via various measures including insulation, windows replacement and a more efficient heating system. This issue is of particular importance to the government, which will help you by directly or indirectly financing parts of your renovation work.

Below we provide an overview of the support that is available. Make sure that you always check the conditions attached to the various grants that are available.

An energy advice grant

In order to take advantage of any subsidies relating to energy renovation work, you must first speak with an approved energy adviser  . This adviser will check the relevance and quality of the work you are planning. There is a fee for this service, but, subject to conditions, you are entitled to a subsidy of EUR 1,500 for a single-family home and EUR 1,800 for a block of two apartments. There is an additional EUR 50 available for each extra apartment, up to a maximum of EUR 2,600, and the support is capped at the actual cost of the energy advice.

Useful info: in order to avoid any potential abuse and double counting, this support may be reduced by

• • 50% if the work is already covered by financial support for energy advice under the 2012 or 2016 PRIME House schemes.
  • 70% if the advice relates solely to the improvement of one of the following technical systems: solar thermal systems, heat pumps, wood-burning boilers, or the establishment of a district heating network and/or a link to such a network.

If the energy advice has been given in connection with a sustainable retrofit, the support may be increased by EUR 140 for a thermal bridging calculation and treatment proposals.

The amount of the subsidy may therefore vary depending on your situation.

The government’s PRIME House programme applies to renovation work carried out in connection with sustainable energy.

PRIMe House

The government’s PRIMe House programme will provide a real boost for your finances and is your best option if you’re undertaking renovation work. It applies to renovation work carried out in connection with sustainable energy. These subsidies and grants run until 2025 and are available for many types of work. There are four schemes: The Clever Wunnen scheme provides support for the installation of renewable energy equipment such as heat pumps. The Clever Solar subsidy promotes energy production from solar panels. The Clever Hëtzen scheme helps you replace your boiler with a more environmentally friendly alternative. Lastly, the Clever Lueden subsidy is for the installation of a personal charging station.

Some of these grants promote the efficient use of energy with the emphasis on renewable energies. You must ensure that the elements renovated do not exceed a certain level of thermal emissions and that performance standards are respected.

The amount you receive will of course depend on the work carried out, as well as on your income and family situation. This will vary between EUR 250 and EUR 9,700. For example, if you decide to install new solar thermal and photovoltaic systems under the Clever Solar scheme, you will receive a subsidy of between 20% and 62.5% of the costs incurred.

• • Solar thermal system for hot water production: a subsidy of 62.5% of the costs incurred with a ceiling of EUR 3,125 per individual house or housing unit in an apartment building.
  • Solar thermal systems for back-up heating: 62.5% of costs incurred with a ceiling of EUR 5,000 per individual house or EUR 2,500 per housing unit in an apartment building.
  • Photovoltaic solar/hybrid collection systems: 20% of the costs incurred with a ceiling of EUR 500 per kWp.

Useful info: PRIMe House grants can be combined with municipality subsidies but cannot be combined with improvement grants for older housing.

Klimabonus programme

This programme of financial aid established by the Luxembourg Environment Agency (Administration de l’environnement – AEV) for projects started up until 2025 aims to implement environmental, energy and social transition, whilst also targeting more efficient energy use. The Klimabonus Wunnen programme is mainly for low-income households and is divided into five categories, including renewable energy and sustainable housing. The latter proposes simplified procedures if you have an energy renovation project. Don’t worry, you don’t have to renovate the entire house. Replacing windows or the house facade may qualify for this grant.

Interest relief

If you have taken out a loan to carry out energy renovation work on your home, you may be eligible for one-off interest relief, providing you meet certain up-front conditions. In other words, the government offers you help with interest payments thus reducing the monthly costs that you pay to reimburse the amount borrowed to carry out the work.

If the investments made qualify for the PRIMe House scheme, a loan of up to EUR 50,000 will be eligible for interest relief. To obtain this subsidy, you must present paid invoices proving that the loan was taken out to improve energy consumption and send your request to the Luxembourg Housing Aid department. Your family situation and your income will be taken into account when determining the level of the subsidy.

Climate loan

If you’re worried that your home is too old for a subsidy, the aim of the government’s climate loan is to promote the sustainable retrofit of housing that is over ten years old. This loan is at either a reduced or zero rate. Zero-rate loans are granted by participating banks to low and middle-income households, up to an amount of EUR 50,000 over 15 years. Otherwise, a climate loan at a reduced rate of 1.5% may be granted for up to an amount of EUR 100,000 over 15 years.

Reduced-rate VAT

In other good news, energy renovation work such as the installation of photovoltaic panels is subject to VAT at the reduced rate of 3%. However, the level of this tax incentive must not exceed EUR 50,000 per home.

ENOPRIMES

Energy suppliers are also available to help with your energy renovation projects. They have set up the ENOPRIMES  scheme for owners and tenants, which covers various work such as the replacement of heating and windows, and heat insulation, etc. This rewards you for reducing your consumption with a grant that lowers the cost of your investment. The higher your energy savings, the higher the level of the grant. A win-win solution!

Municipality grants and subsidies

Depending on which municipality you live in, you may be eligible for local grants to help you carry out the work. Don’t hesitate to ask for further information.

Substantial investments may be necessary for renovations to improve the performance of your home, but grants and subsidies that are available from the government and municipalities may provide the financial boost you need to carry out this work.