03 Funding and audits
Across your whole
business, funded.
Energy and building audits show where a company loses energy and which measures pay off. We obtain the funding before the audit starts.
Obligations and funding Six topics
What applies to your business
Mandatory audit, energy management, waste heat, renovation roadmap, funding for investments: each topic has its own page in German, with thresholds, deadlines and sources.
Audit In five steps
How an audit works
First the funding approval, then the site visit. So you carry no risk before it is clear that the audit will be funded.
Your business and its energy costs
We talk about your business. For that we need the approximate annual energy costs or the monthly instalments for electricity and gas, for all meters of the business.
Funding application to BAFA
eXo files the funding application and obtains the funding approval from BAFA. Only then does the process continue.
Site visit
After the approval, a BAFA-certified engineering firm always visits the business: plant, buildings, processes and use on site.
Analysis and report
Energy flows, weak points and savings potential are analysed. The report names measures, investment needs, economic viability and priorities.
Final meeting
The results are discussed, together with the next steps and the funding for implementing the measures.
DIN EN 16247-1 Energy audit
The energy audit
An energy audit to DIN EN 16247-1 examines every area in which a company uses energy. The aim is to find the largest consumers and to develop measures that pay off economically.
The report is also the basis for investments and for further funding applications. For large companies an energy audit is mandatory under the German Energy Services Act, every four years; who is affected is explained on the German page Pflichtaudit.
View a sample report (PDF in German, new window)Energy audit of a slaughterhouse in North Rhine-Westphalia, anonymised. PDF in German, 57 pages, 7 MB.
It covers, among other things:
- 01Electricity, heat and cooling
- 02Production and processes
- 03Compressed air and drives
- 04Lighting
- 05Buildings and building services
- 06Vehicle fleet
DIN V 18599 Building audit
The building audit
Office, hall or shop: the building audit shows the energy condition of the building, its systems and its use. All recommended measures are assessed for investment and economic viability and put in order.
Building envelope
Insulation, windows, roof, doors and heat losses
Technical systems
Heating, ventilation, cooling, hot water and lighting
Use and operation
Room temperatures, ventilation and everyday behaviour
Energy and utilities
Electricity, gas, district heating and water
A qualified building audit is often a requirement for applying for funding for renovation or modernisation.
View a sample report (PDF in German, new window)Energy renovation concept for an Ayurvedic organic production site in Brandenburg, anonymised. PDF in German, 66 pages, 8 MB.
Funding Obtaining funding
Funding for energy and building audits
The German federal government funds energy audits to DIN EN 16247 and energy consulting for non-residential buildings to DIN V 18599 through BAFA, in the programme for energy consulting for non-residential buildings, plants and systems (bafa.de (external site, new window, German)). Part of the consultant's fee is funded.
- Energy audit to DIN EN 16247 (module 1): 50% of the eligible fee, at most €3,000 if annual energy costs exceed €10,000 net, otherwise at most €600.
- Energy consulting to DIN V 18599 (module 2): 50%, at most €850, €2,500 or €4,000, depending on a net floor area below 200, up to 500 or above 500 square metres.
- Eligible for the funded energy audit are, among others, SMEs and non-SMEs using at most 500,000 kWh a year. The mandatory audit of large companies is not funded.
As of 30 April 2026. Sources: BAFA, module 1 (external site, new window, German), BAFA, module 2 (external site, new window, German).
We check whether and to what extent your business qualifies, based on the programmes as they stand on the day of your enquiry. We file the application, and the approval comes before the site visit.
Further programmes for residential buildings and investments: renovation roadmap and funding for investments (both in German).
With Energie Audit Deutschland
We carry out the audits with Energie Audit Deutschland GmbH from Monheim, an independent company. eXo is listed there as a partner. Content on this page is based on information from Energie Audit Deutschland.
energie-audit-deutschland.de (external site, new window, German)
Obligations In brief
What German law requires
A short summary. Thresholds, deadlines and sources are on the German pages linked below.
- Energy audit, section 8 EDL-G: every company that is not an SME (250 or more employees, or turnover above €50 million and balance sheet total above €43 million) must carry out an energy audit at least every four years. An energy or environmental management system provides an exemption. German page: Pflichtaudit
- Management system, section 8 EnEfG: mandatory above 7.5 GWh average annual final energy consumption. German page: Energiemanagement
- Implementation plans and waste heat, sections 9 and 17 EnEfG: above 2.5 GWh, plans for economic measures must be published, and waste heat must be reported to the Federal Office for Energy Efficiency by 31 March each year. German page: Abwärme
- Planned reform: a draft adopted by the federal cabinet on 24 June 2026 sets new thresholds (audit above 2.77 GWh, management system above 23.6 GWh). Not yet in force.
- Renovation roadmaps and investment funding: German pages: Sanierungsfahrplan, Fördermittel für Investitionen, Häufige Fragen.
Electricity tax Section 9b StromStG
Electricity tax refund
Many businesses pay more electricity tax than necessary. Companies in manufacturing and in agriculture and forestry can have a large part of the electricity tax refunded by the main customs office.
The standard rate is 2.05 cents per kilowatt hour. 2.00 cents per kilowatt hour are refunded for electricity the business uses for light, heat, cooling, compressed air and mechanical energy; 0.05 cents remain. This relief has applied permanently since 2026.
- A refund is only granted if the amount exceeds €250 a year, that is from about 12,500 kilowatt hours.
- The application is filed electronically via the customs portal with the main customs office, by 31 December of the following year. For 2025 the deadline is 31 December 2026.
- Electricity for electric mobility is excluded.
- An energy audit to DIN EN 16247-1 often helps to document the activity and consumption of the business.
Together with Energie Audit Deutschland we check whether your business is entitled and support the application with the main customs office, also in the following years if you wish.
As of October 2026. Sources: zoll.de, relief under section 9b StromStG (external site, new window, German), Energie Audit Deutschland (external site, new window, German).
Electricity use per year100,000 kWh
Refund per kWh2.00 ct
Refund per year€2,000
Higher consumption means a higher refund, provided the business belongs to manufacturing or to agriculture and forestry.
Audit check In two minutes
Could a funded audit be right for your business?
Above all we need one figure: the approximate annual energy costs. Alternatively, the monthly instalments for electricity and gas are enough.
Please add up all meters that belong to the business, at all sites.