How to make resource allocation of grants more efficient while also improving the business sector’s energy efficiency? According to the results, the reduction in the share of grants allocated to large enterprises to a maximum of 30% of the total OPPIK allocation is counterproductive.

The main goal of this study was to conduct an impact assessment of the limited financial allocation to large enterprises in the Operational Programme Enterprise and Innovation for Competitiveness (OPPIK). According to the decision of the European Commission (C 2015, 3039), the support of large enterprises can reach (after considering all exceptions and other circumstances) only less than 30% of the financial allocation of this operational programme. This restriction threatens the ability to use all the available funds of the programme and reach its goals. One of these goals is to achieve substantial energy savings as a result of specific objectives 3.2 Improving the energy efficiency of the business sector and 3.5 Improving the efficiency of heat supply systems. An ex-post analysis of projects funded in the last programming period (2007–2013) was conducted, including the calculation of the expected effects of the OPPIK under the rules of the current programme on both small and large enterprises in this programming period (2014–2020). An analysis of absorption capacity was also conducted for some of the priority axes as well as a legal analysis of the current setting of the OPPIK.

Conclusions of the project:

The reduction in the support for large enterprises is not reasonable, because: (a) it impedes effective achievement of the authorized goals of the OPPIK, (b) it impedes the support of SMEs that are included in the category of large enterprises under the current definition and (c) it is not in accordance with the legal framework (Art. 3 of Regulation no. 1301/2013). The institute of a “Programme Change”, regulated in Art. 30 of Regulation 1303/2013, can be used as a possible corrective measure of this legal contradiction with the EU regulation. Under a better setting of the programme from the viewpoint of support for both small and large enterprises, it would be possible to achieve significantly higher effects (especially in terms of energy savings) than it was predicted by the OPPIK programming document. Namely, the possible savings in final energy consumption could reach 28.4 PJ per year (instead of the current prediction of 17.5 PJ) and in primary energy 10.9 PJ per year instead of the current 6.5 PJ per year (40% more).

Outputs:

VOJÁČEK, Ondřej (2016). Omezení čerpání OPPIK velkými podniky ohrožuje plnění závazků. TREJBAL, Václav. SPEKTRUM, 05-07 2016, 12-13 str.  (download pdf in czech)

Research team: Ondřej Vojáček, Jiří Louda, Jan Macháč, Lenka Zaňková (Zemková), Ladislav Sobotka