Update to Accelerated Capital Allowance for Energy Efficient Equipment and Triple E Register

solar photovoltaic and wind

Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) have just completed the following improvements to the Triple E programme. The following technologies have been added to the Triple E product register: Heat Pumps, Solar Thermal and Inverters.

SEAI have also revised the following criteria to allow products to be submitted under the Microgen programme: Wind Turbine Systems, Photovoltaic Systems and Co-generation.

Unfortunately in this recent update they did not include hydro. Hopefully we will see this added in the next update!

Products can now be submitted for consideration under the new technology headings. Equipment suppliers and manufacturers who want to submit eligible equipment to the ACA can do so through the online process.  The next submission round will close Friday 19th August 5.00pm

Overview of Accelerated Capital Allowance (ACA):

The ACA is a tax incentive for companies paying corporation tax and aims to encourage investment in energy efficient equipment. The ACA offers an attractive incentive whereby it allows companies to write off 100% of the purchase value of qualifying energy efficient equipment against their profit in the year of purchase.

This  incentive relates to the provision of certain energy-efficient equipment for use in a company’s trade  and the equipment must be included in the list of energy-efficient equipment approved by the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources in order to qualify under the scheme.

The energy-efficient equipment must be new. It must meet certain energy-efficient criteria and must fall within one of the  10 different equipment categories and 52 associated technologies.

A company is required to incur a minimum amount of expenditure on providing the equipment and this varies with the particular category to which the product belongs.

There is no requirement to obtain approval for expenditure on the energy-efficient equipment.

The normal self-assessment provisions apply. Once a company meets all of the required conditions, it can claim the allowance for the accounting period in which the equipment was first provided and used for the trade provided that the equipment is included on the published list at some stage during that accounting period. The allowance should be claimed on the company’s return of income (form CT1) and should be included along with any other wear and tear allowances for machinery and plant. A dedicated entry for this allowance is included in the CT1 return under the heading “Trading Results”.

Overview of the ACA equipment categories and eligibility criteria:

Equipment CategoryMinimum expenditure (for ACA incentive)*Technology& associated criteriaDate Criteria last updated
Building Energy Management Systems (BEMS)€5,000Building Energy Management Systems (BEMS)28.09.2009
Lighting€3,000Lighting Units27.09.2010
Lighting Controls11.10.2010
Motors and Drives€1,000AC Induction Motors27.09.2010
Variable Speed Drives (VSDs)28.09.2009
Permanent Magnet Motors23.06.2010
Information and Communications Technology (ICT)€1,000Rack Mounted Servers27.09.2010
Enterprise Storage Equipment10.05.2010
Precise Cooling28.09.2009
Centralised Direct Current Power Distribution28.09.2009
Power Management28.09.2009
Uninterruptible Power Supply28.09.2009
Blade Servers23.06.2010
ICT Communications23.06.2010
ICT Optimisation Solutions23.06.2010
Heating and Electricity Provision€1,000Co-generation25.07.2011
Wind Turbines25.07.2011
Boilers and Hot Water Heaters27.09.2010
Localised Steam Generators28.09.2009
Stationary Fuel Cell Power Systems28.09.2009
Photovoltaic Systems25.07.2011
Boiler Controls28.09.2009
Condensate Recovery Systems17.12.2009
Steam Systems28.09.2009
Biomass Boilers27.09.2010
Inverters25.07.2011
Solar Thermal Collectors25.07.2011
Process and Heating, Ventilation and Air-conditioning (HVAC) Control Systems€1,000HVAC Zone Control28.09.2009
Heat Exchangers27.09.2010
Pumps28.09.2009
Hydraulic Power Recovery Turbine28.09.2009
Blowers28.09.2009
Fans28.09.2009
Electric and Alternative Fuel Vehicles€1,000Electric Vehicles and Associated Charging Equipment28.09.2009
Alternative Energy Vehicle Conversions28.09.2009
Catering and Hospitality€1,000Commercial Dishwashers18.06.2010
Commercial Laundry Dryer18.06.2010
Commercial Combination Ovens18.06.2010
Commercial Laundry Washer23.06.2010
Water Boilers04.06.2010
Electromechanical Systems€1,000Electrical Actuators18.06.2010
Extrusion Blow Moulding Machines18.06.2010
Injection Blow Moulding Machines18.06.2010
Injection Moulding Machines18.06.2010
Process Energy Management Systems23.06.2010
Voltage Stabilisation23.06.2010
Refigeration and Cooling€1,000Compressors and Condensing Units23.06.2010
Condensers23.06.2010
Refrigerated Display Cabinets23.06.2010
Refrigeration System Controls and Monitoring23.06.2010
Chillers and Fluid Coolers27.09.2010
Heat Pumps25.07.2011

* Expenditure within each equipment category must, at the end of the accounting period, be equal to or exceed minimum expenditure amounts relevant for each category. Minimum expenditure can be over a range of projects, procurements etc as it only relates to overall company expenditure on BEMS technologies in the accounting period.

SEAI update the  Accelerated Capital Allowance (ACA) criteria on a regular basis.