Good practice:

Electronic system for SME grant applications "AYAE"

One of the main problems addressed was improving relationship with the beneficiaries facilitating their access to documentation, as well as the internal management of their files.
It is a web tool specifically designed for sustainable energy regional grants; indeed, “AYAE” is the acronym of the Spanish name of the tool “Ayudas de Ahorro y Eficiencia Energética” (saving and energy efficiency grants):
- Any call regarding sustainable energy, such as energy efficiency in companies, renewable energies, building retrofitting, eco-mobility, etc., can be manage by this tool (easily adaptable to each call).
AYAE calculates the percentage of financial subsidy on the basis of the energy consumption data entered by the applicants, depending on the requirements set out by each call.
Allows the SME to easily make a calculation of the potential subsidy before submitting the application of energy efficiency improvement.
The main stakeholders are the applicants who receive the aid, but also the department of the Public Administration that runs the grants and the IT Department of the Regional Administration as well, in charge of the programming the initial web tool and the following versions.

Tool set up: 2 experts on energy efficiency and IT staff: 3 people (project manager, analyst and software developer).

Tool maintenance: 1 expert on energy efficiency and IT staff: 1 project analyst and 1 software developer. External assistance (programming, web designing): 5.000 €/year.

AYAE processing is more agile, secure, direct and available 24/7. It offers benefits in terms of reduced processing times and costs. According to a comparative study with the previous system, done by the Energy Agency, files’ administrative resolution, on average, in 30 days (reduction of 150 days). Significant cost savings in processing for both SMEs and the Administration, reducing up to 82% the costs associated with grant application, processing, resolution, justification and payment.

Resistance to change to a new system from both employees and companies. Extra effort of the Service that manages the subsidies with the IT services to design a user-friendly tool.

Potential elements to be transfer:
- The flow diagram of the tool, its structure and screen design and a very hands-on user’s manual.
- How the applicants can easily report the foreseen energy reduction, which is used by the Administration for the calculation of the grant.
- Applicants can access the web tool and pre-calculate the potential subsidy based on their project's investment and energy savings data.