Through the TEK scheme, the government is covering part of the increased energy costs incurred by energy-intensive SMEs. The TEK was announced in a letter from the Minister for Economic Affairs to the House of Representatives. The following is taken from this letter.
Conditions
To be eligible for the TEK, a business owner must meet the following requirements. The SME:
- meets the European definition of an SME;
- is registered in the Commercial Register;
- consumes at least 5,000 m³ of gas or 50,000 kWh of electricity per year;
- is an energy-intensive business of which at least 12.5% (It has since been proposed to lower this threshold to 7%; see our article Energy Costs Allowance (TEK) expanded) of turnover consists of energy costs (in principle, this is based on the first and second quarters of 2023).
According to the European definition, an SME has fewer than 250 employees and either an annual turnover of less than €50 million or a balance sheet total of less than €43 million. These criteria apply to the enterprise as a whole, including partner enterprises and affiliated enterprises.
Grant amount
The allowance is equal to 50% of the increase in costs relative to the threshold price. The threshold price has been set at €1.19/m³ of gas and €0.35/kWh of electricity (which corresponds to the price for domestic customers, excluding VAT). This threshold price is compared with the market price. How the market price is determined is yet to be finalised. The maximum reimbursement (the subsidy ceiling) is €160,000 per business (i.e. not per energy contract or per location). A different subsidy ceiling applies to agricultural businesses under separate European regulations.
The maximum price compensation is €1.00 per m³ of gas and €0.30/kWh of electricity. Price increases above €3.19/m³ of gas and €0.95/kWh of electricity are therefore not compensated.
Implementation
The TEK will be carried out by the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO). Entrepreneurs who wish to be kept informed of the latest developments regarding the TEK can do so by email address submit to RVO.
The scheme will be open for the whole of 2023 and for the last two months of 2022. However, it is expected that the first application will not be able to be submitted until the second quarter of 2023.
For general information and personalised advice, business owners can contact the Energy Advice Centre from the Chamber of Commerce (at kvk.nl).