Deadline: September 12, 2025
The Retrofit grant scheme offers a significant opportunity for private sector enterprises to improve energy efficiency, reduce energy demand, and lower carbon emissions through building retrofitting.
This scheme focuses on improving energy efficiency, reducing energy demand, lowering carbon emissions, limiting energy waste, and contributing towards energy savings and environmental performance enhancement in buildings. The measure complies with the ‘Do no significant harm’ principle and excludes activities related to fossil fuels, EU Emission Trading System activities not meeting benchmarks, waste landfills, incinerators, and activities causing harm through waste disposal. The investment targets renovation and greening of private sector buildings, including deep retrofitting through energy and resource efficiency measures, aiming to achieve a reduction of Primary Energy Demand (PED) of at least 30%.
The grant scheme supports micro, small, medium, and large enterprises in Malta and Gozo, providing non-repayable grants to part-finance investments retrofitting their premises. Eligible actions include improvements to heating, cooling, ventilation, hot water, and lighting systems, as well as building envelope interventions that reduce energy demand. Eligible expenditure covers costs directly linked to increasing energy efficiency and achieving the PED reduction, certified through Energy Performance Certificates before and after renovation. The scheme requires that at least 70% of non-hazardous construction and demolition waste be prepared for reuse, recycling, or material recovery.
The scheme is managed under the framework of Malta’s Recovery & Resilience Plan, with a budget of €20 million, aimed at retrofitting approximately 40,605 square meters of private sector building space. The maximum grant per undertaking is capped at €5 million, with different aid intensities based on the size of the undertaking, the locality (Malta or Gozo), and the level of PED reduction achieved, with incentives for reductions beyond 40%.
Applicants must meet eligibility criteria, submit comprehensive documentation including financial statements, planning permits, energy performance assessments, and evidence of private match financing. The application process involves a financial viability check for grants over €60,000 and assessments against gateway and selection criteria evaluating project risk, quality, impact, sustainability, and implementation efficiency.
The scheme mandates a durability period during which investments must be maintained in the recipient area for three years for SMEs and five years for large enterprises, including conditions on ownership changes and asset maintenance. Monitoring, reporting, and audit processes ensure compliance, effective implementation, and proper financial management throughout the project lifecycle.
Recipients are required to ensure adequate publicity acknowledging European Union support, maintain transparency by listing grants publicly, and comply with visibility standards proportional to the grant size. The programme encourages sustainable practices, including waste management, reduction of pollutant emissions during works, and integration of the ‘Do no significant harm’ principle covering climate change mitigation, adaptation, circular economy transition, and pollution control.
The Retrofit scheme contributes to Malta’s commitment to climate neutrality by supporting private sector retrofitting projects that enhance energy performance and reduce environmental impact in line with EU regulations.
For more information, visit Fondi.eu.
