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Energy · Case study

Research allowance amount: millions across two energy projects.

A company building infrastructure for decentralised energy markets ran two personnel-intensive projects over years. Together they reached an eligible base near €8 million.

€2.8M
research allowance granted
€8M
eligible base
Up to 35%
SME funding rate
Free assessment Read the story
At a glance

The mandate in figures

IndustryEnergy / blockchainDecentralised energy markets
Research allowance granted€2.8MAcross the term, both projects
Eligible base€8M
ScenarioTwo projects, both certified
Projects2 (both certified)
SME funding rateUp to 35%
About the company

The company, and the R&D underneath

The company develops infrastructure for decentralized energy markets: systems that integrate distributed energy resources into power markets and grid operation, and a verifiable, decentralized registry for the environmental attributes of sustainable raw materials. This is long-term, deeply technical work with a large, highly qualified development team.

Over several years this adds up to substantial personnel expenditure. That is the core of the research allowance: it primarily funds a company's own development work, calculated on eligible personnel costs.

The challenge

Where the funding really sat

Large, long-running development programs create two tasks. First, clean structuring: a broad development field must be split into clearly delineated projects, each with its own technical objective, its own risk and its own solution path. Packing everything into a single, diffuse project weakens certifiability.

Second, the correct handling of the cut-off and capping logic. The time of the project start determines the applicable funding period and thus the caps and rates. An early project start triggers different annual caps on the eligible base than later projects. Across several years and two projects this must be brought together cleanly.

Novelty Technical risk / uncertainty Systematic approach
Our approach

How we built the case

We structured the program into two independent projects, each with a clearly defined technical objective, its own scientific-technical uncertainty and a comprehensible solution path. This way each project carries the three criteria on its own.

We prepared the expenditure along the fiscal years, with in-house work as the core of the eligible base and recognized contract research as a supplement. In doing so we accounted for the period-dependent caps and rates per year, so every euro takes effect in the right year and at the right rate. Both projects were certified.

How the case moved

↻
Scoped
Split into 2 clean projects
↻
Documented
Year by year, period-aware
✓
Certified
Both projects granted

What made up the eligible base

In-house ~80%Contract research ~20%
In-house personnel workContract research

Eligible base around €8 million, predominantly in-house work across roughly six years and two projects. Split shown is illustrative.

The result

A €2.8M research allowance.

In total this yields an eligible base in the order of magnitude of around EUR 8 million. Across the full term and both projects, the research allowance moves into the millions. For a program of this size, that is no longer a side effect but a tangible building block for ongoing development financing.

Eligible base €8M · SME rate Up to 35%
Two projects, both certifiedThe outcome of the mandate.
Eligible base €8MRecognised cost the allowance is calculated on.
SME rate Up to 35%Applied to the eligible base.
Key takeaways

What other companies can learn

Large development budgets deserve their own funding strategy. Three points are decisive:

01

Split cleanly into projects

Several clearly delineated projects are stronger than a single broad one. Each must carry novelty, risk and a systematic approach on its own.

02

Master the cut-off logic

Funding period, caps and rate depend on the project start and the fiscal year. Over long terms this must be calculated year by year.

03

Keep the annual cap in view

The eligible base is capped per year. With very large expenditure, forward planning pays off so nothing runs unused over the cap. For affiliated companies the cap moreover applies jointly.

“
The research allowance is often underrated as a nice extra for small teams.
BeFunded On the research allowance
FAQ

Your questions, answered

The most common questions on this kind of case. Short answer first, detail after.

It results from the eligible base and the funding rate. The eligible base is capped per fiscal year; the caps have risen across the funding periods. SMEs get an increased rate of 35% for fiscal years from 2024. Over several years this adds up.

Primarily the eligible personnel costs of in-house development, supplemented by a share of recognized contract research and, depending on the period, certain other expenditure. In-house work usually has the largest lever.

Often yes. Several clearly delineated projects are easier to certify and allow a more precise presentation of risk and solution path. What matters is that each project stands on its own.

The project start determines the period and thus caps, in-house rates and the contract-research share. Early projects are subject to different caps than later ones.

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