Energy audit operations
Energy audits aim to analyse how energy is used at the audited company, to find out the potential for energy savings and to propose cost-efficient measures to improve overall energy efficiency.
Energy audit operations in Finland are divided into two parts:
- Voluntary, subsidised energy audits for SMEs and municipalities
- Mandatory energy audits laid down in the Energy Efficiency Act (energiatehokkuuslaki, 1429/2014) for large enterprises
Energy audit subsidies are available for municipalities and SMEs
A subsidised voluntary energy audit is an audit on the energy consumption and energy saving opportunities of a specific site, realised and reported in accordance with separate instructions.
Motiva is responsible for all practical matters concerning subsidised audits (such as instructions, monitoring, development, quality control, auditor training and advice).
The Ministry of Employment and the Economy supports the voluntary energy audits of municipalities and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). An energy subsidy will only be granted if the energy audit is implemented in compliance with the model and the implementation instructions.
Mandatory for large enterprises
The Energy Efficiency Act obligates large enterprises to carry out an energy audit every four years. The energy audit determines the energy consumption profiles of all of the company’s or Group’s locations and identifies opportunities to save energy by means of individual site audits which provide detailed information on the energy consumption of the sites and applicable energy efficiency actions. Subsidies are not available for the mandatory energy audits of large enterprises.
The mandatory energy audits of large enterprises are managed and enforced by the Energy Authority.