Climate bonus: Where the waiting times are longest

Thanks to more staff and digitalized application processes, the deadlines for the payment of funding under the climate bonus program have been shortened – at least in most categories, because you still have to wait a year for funding to be approved for a solar system. This is the response of Environment Minister Serge Wilmes (CSV) and Economics Minister Lex Delles (DP). parliamentary question by Françoise Kemp (CSV). The great success of the “Wunnen Climate Bonus” funding resulted in many more applications being received “than originally expected”.

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Subsidies for housing and vehicle purchases will be retained

However, there has been a significant improvement in the approval of the bicycle bonus. While the duration there was still 17 months in mid-June 2022, it has now been shortened to three months. A total of 13,815 applications were submitted in 2022 and 12,357 in 2023. Promoting a private charging station for electric vehicles is also quicker: the waiting time is less than a month.

Digitalization accelerates the application process

There are currently longer delays in funding applications for technical systems such as photovoltaics, solar thermal energy or heat pumps. Here the waiting times are twelve months. This is due to “strong demand,” as was stated in response to a letter at the end of February parliamentary question was explained by Yves Cruchten (LSAP). In total, the administrations had to process 1,966 applications in the “Climate Bonus Housing” area in 2022 (including 1,302 for technical systems) and 1,021 applications in 2023 (including 523 for technical systems).

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The environmental agency is working to reduce these deadlines. To this end, a dozen additional employees and a process optimization officer were hired in the financial aid department. Since December 2023, all procedures relating to the climate bonus have been digitalized. The subsidies can be applied for via MyGuichet.

No timetable for the planned pre-financing

As stated in the coalition agreement, the government intends to introduce pre-financing of climate subsidies so that citizens only have to pay their share. In this context, the government will also ensure that the affected companies receive government subsidies promptly. The initial plan is to introduce such a pre-financing mechanism for photovoltaic systems, remind Environment Minister Serge Wilmes (CSV) and Economics Minister Lex Delles (DP) in their joint response to Françoise Kemp’s question. A specific schedule is not mentioned.