Tremplin Scheme – Financial boost for micro-enterprises and SMEs committed to the ecological transition

The implementation of the "France Relance" plan

Finance your ecological transition projects with the financial aid from the "Springboard for the ecological transition of SMEs" program

• Prerequisites for eligibility for "Tremplin" grant recipients
• Details about the aid
• Practical details for estimating the aid and submitting your application

Prerequisites for eligibility for "Tremplin" grant recipients

The investment project must correspond to one of the actions in the predetermined list, for which a predetermined amount of aid is allocated.

Several prerequisites are required in order to submit your application to ADEME:

• The beneficiary must be a micro-enterprise or SME as defined by European regulations, established in France, with a SIRET number, excluding self-employed individuals; however, the legal form does not matter, they are all eligible including SCIs.
• The total cost of the operation, consisting of several investments or studies, must be greater than the total amount of aid offered by ADEME.
• Projects for which the estimated amount of aid on the ADEME website is less than €5,000 or more than €200,000 will be ineligible.
• The investment project must be completed within a maximum period of 18 months.
• The investment or study project must be part of eligible actions with an ecological objective (fighting climate change, overall renovation of buildings and air quality, actions related to lighting… the list of eligible actions can be seen here with an indication of the amounts of aid).

A list of actions is also predetermined based on the Excel spreadsheet "ADEME_Tremplin transition écologique" to be completed at the time of application.

• At the time of the application for assistance, the investments/or studies must not have already started or been commissioned when the project sponsor uses an external service provider.
• Several quotes should have been obtained for the planned investments/studies. This may include external costs as well as internal costs.
• You must not have applied for or received any public assistance in the form of subsidies for the same expenses. You should be aware of any assistance you may have already received.

Details about the aid

The aid will be awarded in the form of a lump-sum grant, paid in several stages, with an advance of 30% upon notification of the aid decision, and then according to the terms indicated in the financing contract.

Important information:

• The "Tremplin" grants can be combined with Energy Savings Certificates, as well as certain public aid such as ecological bonuses.
• However, they cannot be combined with certain public aid such as subsidies and the tertiary tax credit.
• The ceiling for state aid under the temporary support scheme for businesses facing Covid-19 is €800,000.

Practical details for estimating the aid and submitting your application

The application process involves two steps:

Step 1: The project leader must first fill in the Excel spreadsheet "ADEME Tremplin transition écologique" which can be downloaded from this page of the ADEME website.

The company will enter information about its business and its location, including its geographical position. It will also need to enter the estimated cost of the project, after deducting VAT. A list of actions will then be suggested based on the information entered, from which the company will need to select. Based on this selection, an estimated amount of ADEME funding will then be displayed. Depending on this funding, the company can then decide whether or not to commit to carrying out the chosen actions. Once this step is completed, the applicant can generate a new Excel file with the entered information, which must be kept for the application submission.

Step 2: Next, submit your application online via this page.

If the application is accepted, ADEME will send a funding agreement specifying the maximum amount of aid, the terms and conditions of payment. ADEME may monitor compliance with the contractual commitments and the implementation of the project, notably by conducting site visits.

For more details on the new Tremplin grant program for the ecological transition of SMEs

Frequently Asked Questions: available here

List of eligible actions: available here with a detailed description available here

Eligibility and funding requirements: downloadable here

Application support guide: downloadable here

List of support measures: visible here