Energy Cost Relief for Energy-intensive SMEs (TEK)

Terms and conditions

The most important conditions are as follows:

• Your company meets the European criteria to qualify as an SME. Use the SME test to find out whether this is the case for your company.
• Your company is registered with the Dutch Chamber of Commerce.
  • If you do not have a registered office and a trade name, we consider you an entrepreneur if you file a turnover tax return. Your turnover should not be below a certain level. 
  • Even if you do not file a turnover tax return, you may still be considered to have a company if your turnover is exempt from turnover tax.
• Your company, association or foundation was registered with the Dutch Chamber of Commerce no later than 31 December 2022.
• At least 7% of your company's turnover is spent on energy. 
• You have a business energy contract (the contract is in the name of your company, association or foundation).
• Your company has fewer than 250 employees and an annual turnover of less than €50 million.

Please note: Do you have a fixed business energy contract for one of your energy connections for which lower supply rates than the scheme's threshold price have been agreed upon? And did this contract start before 1 November 2022, and will it end after 31 December 2023? In that case, you will not receive cost relief for that connection. The energy used on that connection will not count towards calculating your energy intensity. So, you must state all your connections when you apply.

Subsidy

• Maximum prices per m³ of gas and kWh of electricity apply to TEK. For gas, the maximum price is €3.19 per m³. For electricity, the maximum price is €0.95 per kWh. 
• You will receive a maximum of €160,000 (or per group of affiliated companies). 
• You will only receive a subsidy if the 2023 model fee is higher than €1.19/m³ for gas and €0.35/kWh for electricity. We refer to these rates as 'the threshold price'. You will bear all energy costs below the threshold price yourself.
• You will receive an advance of 35% of your total energy cost increase (above the threshold price). This is a lower percentage you are used to from us. This is because we can't predict if energy prices will rise or fall. This way we hope to keep the risk of reimbursement afterwards as small as possible.
• As this relief falls under European government aid regulations, it will be awarded based on the total energy costs per company, not per energy contract or site.

Applying for TEK

The TEK is now closed, you could apply for TEK from 21 March 2023, 09:00 CET, to 2 October 2023, 17:00 CEST. You were entitled to apply for relief from 1 November 2022 to 31 December 2023. This means that part of the relief will be awarded retroactively. 

Decision

From mid-March 2024 you will receive a notification from us that you may submit your decision application. We will then determine your final subsidy amount. This is a required step. You may submit your application until 31 May 2024 at 17.00 CEST.

Final subsidy and model fees

We will calculate your final TEK subsidy using the 2023 model fees for gas and electricity. The final 2023 model fees for gas and electricity have been announced:

•    The final 2023 model fee for gas is € 1.36.
•    The final 2023 model fee for electricity is € 0.36.

More information

• Tegemoetkoming Energiekosten energie-intensief mkb (TEK) (in Dutch)

If you have any questions about TEK, please contact us.

The Netherlands Enterprise Agency carries out reimbursement of fixed costs on behalf of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy. The Dutch government expects enterprises to conduct business responsibly, respecting people, the environment and society, in compliance with international OECD guidelines and human rights treaties.