The ESPA funding program "Go Green in Crete" is strategically designed to support and modernize existing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) operating within the Region of Crete. A highly competitive 60% subsidy is awarded to businesses aiming to integrate eco-friendly processes, optimize resource efficiency, and significantly reduce their environmental and energy footprint.
Eligible funded expenditures focus on productive modernization and green transition, including: the procurement of cutting-edge machinery and equipment, advanced automation and specialized IT systems, digital office infrastructure, circular economy solutions, environmentally friendly operational processes, environmental protection equipment, and comprehensive energy-saving interventions.
Core Program Details
- Application Submission Period: from 30/1/2026 to 2/4/2026.
- Subsidized Investment Budget: from 30,000€ to 300,000€.
- Standard Subsidy Rate: 60%.
Eligible Sectors / Activities
Financial support is strictly provided to enterprises operating in Manufacturing, Wholesale Trade, and the Hospitality sector. Key examples include:
- Food production
- Product manufacturing & processing
- Wholesale trade
- Chemical products
- Pharmaceutical production
- Hotels and similar accommodation (NACE Code 55.1), camping sites
- Facilities for recreational and transport vehicles
- Packaging activities
- Industrial products (apparel, footwear, furniture manufacturing)
Participation Requirements
To be deemed eligible, an enterprise must strictly adhere to the following criteria:
- Operate exclusively within the Region of Crete, ensuring the investment plan targets an existing local facility.
- Qualify as an existing micro, small, or medium-sized enterprise (SME) established before 1/1/2023.
- Possess an eligible NACE (KAD) code related to the investment prior to the electronic application submission.
- Substantially operate (either as the primary NACE code or the one generating the highest revenue) in one (1) eligible NACE code during submission.
- Demonstrate the ability to cover at least 25% of the Private Participation through own capital.
- Ensure the total investment budget does not exceed twice the highest annual turnover achieved in the last 2 years (2023-2024).
- Ensure the investment plan allocates over 60% of the total budget to expenditures explicitly classified as "environmentally friendly processes."
Eligible Expense Categories
The program funds the acquisition of modern machinery, circular economy equipment, environmental protection and energy-saving solutions, as well as the procurement of electric transport vehicles.
1) Production & Mechanical Equipment / Digital Solutions
- Advanced automation and specialized IT systems.
- Digital office infrastructure: desktops/laptops, PBX systems, multi-function printers, video conferencing setups, servers, barcode scanners/printers, and robust backup systems.
- Other essential corporate equipment.
2) Circular Economy Equipment
- Facilities and specialized equipment for liquid/solid waste management.
- Systems engineered to mitigate soil, subsoil, water, and atmospheric pollution.
- Technological interventions to reduce gaseous emissions and environmental nuisance.
- Equipment dedicated to minimizing water consumption and loss.
- Recycling infrastructure: mechanical collection bins, press-containers/balers, material separation/sorting tech (e.g., centrifuge separators), and industrial composting bins.
- Upgraded systems aimed at waste reduction, minimizing defective products, and optimizing water resources/water reuse (e.g., advanced filters, osmosis, desalination units, photocells, flow control valves, float regulators, sand filters, oil separators).
3) Environmental Protection & Energy Conservation
- High-efficiency heating/cooling systems (e.g., heat pumps, inverters), Domestic Hot Water (DHW) systems, and top-tier energy class ventilation units.
- Energy recovery systems utilizing operational equipment heat/kinetic output.
- Advanced insulation for piping, networks, and storage tanks to minimize thermal loss.
- High-efficiency or Ecodesign-compliant compressors, chillers, boilers, ovens, and kilns.
- Energy Management Systems (EMS) tailored for production and storage facilities.
- High energy-label electrical/electronic appliances (where applicable).
- Interventions for HVAC upgrades, reactive power compensation, and modernization of lighting alongside smart control systems.
- Dedicated charging stations for electric machinery and vehicles.
4) Photovoltaics & Storage (Self-production)
- Procurement and installation of photovoltaic stations equipped with energy storage systems specifically for self-consumption.
5) Electric Transport Vehicles
- Fully electric commercial vehicles, strictly intended for verifiable corporate use.
6) Buildings / Grounds / Facilities & Surrounding Areas
- Replacement of outdated frames with new, high energy-efficiency alternatives.
- Installation of advanced shading systems.
- Mechanical ventilation systems incorporating heat recovery.
- Comprehensive building thermal insulation.
- Utilization of shallow geothermal energy systems.
- Development of green (planted) roofs.
7) Consulting Support for Project Monitoring & Implementation
8) Technical Studies (mandatorily linked to investment plan expenditures)
9) Indirect Costs
- A fixed 7% bonus calculated on the total eligible direct costs of the investment plan.
Critical Note:
Every submitted investment project must allocate strictly more than 60% of its Total Budget towards environmentally friendly expenses.
Specifically, these green expenses must fall into the following 5 exclusive subcategories:
- Circular economy equipment
- Equipment for Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency
- Equipment for the installation of photovoltaic stations and storage systems (up to 10kw)
- Electric Transport Vehicles (capped at 50,000 € and up to 30% of the Total Budget)
- Building interventions targeting Environmental Protection, Energy and Water Conservation, and Waste Treatment.
A highly detailed breakdown of these expenditures is available here.
Action 1.3.2 – "Support for existing enterprises in the Region of Crete for the implementation of environmentally friendly processes" - "GO GREEN IN CRETE" is a pivotal initiative driving green modernization. It empowers ambitious businesses to systematically improve their operational workflows, drastically optimize resource utilization, and aggressively shrink their environmental/energy footprints through a robust 60% grant.
Strategic priority is awarded to investment plans engineered towards achieving climate-neutral and highly eco-friendly production methods, facilitating superior resource processing and recovery, and establishing the reliable reuse of operational by-products and material waste.
Project evaluation strictly scores the Availability of Own Capital (private participation), robust profitability & consistent turnover growth over the 2023-2024 biennium, alongside total workforce employment metrics in the year 2025 (optimally targeting 4 AWU and above).
Evaluation Criteria & Maximum Scoring
| Criteria Description | Maximum Score |
|---|---|
| Available Capital in relation to the Total Budget of the Investment Plan | 30 |
| Rate of turnover variation over the last 2 years | 30 |
| Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization (EBITDA) margin relative to turnover (T.O.) over the last 2 years | 30 |
| Number of Enterprise Employees (Annual Work Units - AWU of Salaried Labor) | 10 |
The total Public Expenditure allocated for this specific Call to Action amounts to an impressive 5,000,000 EUR. Application approvals are processed via a strict comparative evaluation methodology, mandating a minimum threshold score of 30 points across the evaluated criteria to achieve successful inclusion.
The Blackbird Group Investment Center, bringing over 16 years of unparalleled expertise in ESPA programs, fully manages your journey to funding. We handle the complete process: rigorous eligibility screening, precise score estimation, and the comprehensive drafting and submission of a flawlessly documented investment plan tailored specifically for the "Go Green in Crete" initiative.
▲ Program Resource Guide
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[Review the exceptional success rates across the multitude of applications submitted by our agency. We proudly achieved a 100% Approval Rate in recent equivalent programs:]
✓ 100% Approval Success (2024–25): "Support for the Establishment of New SMEs" [50% Subsidy]
✓ 100% Approval Success (2024): "Green Productive Investment" [40% – 50% Subsidy]
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