Prokilowatt: energy efficiency call for tenders

The grid levy on electricity is used to fund renewable electricity production and feed-in tariffs that help financing selected energy efficiency measures that would not pay for themselves purely through energy savings. 
Since 2010, the Swiss Federal Office of Energy has launched a series of calls for projects and programmes for more efficient use of electricity in industry and households‚ with a budget up to Swiss francs (CHF) 50 million. Companies and organisations may apply for the implementation of efficiency measures within the scope of an annual call for tenders. The main criterion is the cost-benefit ratio defined as the amount of promotion funding per unit of saved energy. In order to qualify‚ projects and programmes must meet additional criteria, including a minimum financial contribution of at least CHF 20 000 per project and promotion funding capped at a maximum of 30% of investment costs. 
The scheme aims to fund projects for appliances and process measures with a payback period of more than four years and infrastructure projects with a payback period of more than nine years. 
The scheme has two strands: one for projects‚ and one for programmes. Projects focus on deploying best available technologies, while programmes address information barriers and behavioural change. Tenders are assessed by a panel of experts‚ who evaluate expected costs and savings and select applications with the best cost-benefit ratio. 

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