Is measurement and control technology really eligible under UFI?

Yes, as a component. The UFI Infoblatt for Energiesparen in Betrieben, version 04/2026, names Mess-, Steuerungs- und Regelungstechnik among eligible components of efficiency improvements to industrial plant and processes. What it does not do is list stand-alone metering, monitoring, sensors or software as free-standing eligible measures. The application has to be built around the physical efficiency measure.

What rate would a medium-sized Austrian plant get?

Twenty per cent on eligible investment up to 150,000 euros, and 30 per cent of the Förderungsbasis above 150,000 euros, under the UFI standard case. An EMAS-certified company adds five percentage points, capped at 10,000 euros. Investment must be at least 10,000 euros and below 1.0 million euros, and the project must save at least 4 tonnes of CO2 a year. Status as of 22 September 2026.

What is the funding rate for the Energiemanagement-Flexibilisierung scheme?

Not published on the programme page as read on 22 September 2026. Only the form of support (a non-repayable grant), the eligible activities and the deadline of 15 April 2027 at 12:00 were stated. The Leitfaden has to be obtained from Kommunalkredit Public Consulting before any percentage is quoted.

Can we still use KMU.DIGITAL for a digitalisation project?

No. The KMU.DIGITAL site states that the KMU.DIGITAL 4.0 budget is fully exhausted and that applications for consulting and implementation funding are no longer possible, and that the programme will not be continued from 2027 because of federal budget consolidation. Austrian digitalisation cases have to be rebuilt on the UFI energy schemes.

Our project is 60,000 euros. Is the Energieeffizienz-Ausschreibung an option?

No. That call requires a minimum investment of 1.0 million euros and a minimum saving of 1.0 GWh a year, with a deadline of 12 October 2026 at 12:00. A project of that size only reaches the threshold as part of a much larger capital programme. The UFI standard case, with its 10,000 euro floor, is the route that fits.

Home / Factory digitalisation funding in Western Europe and Türkiye: the 2026 map

Funding · Austria · status 22 September 2026

Austria: UFI names measurement and control technology as eligible — with one condition

The Austrian environmental-support scheme lists Mess-, Steuerungs- und Regelungstechnik in black and white. It will not fund it on its own. That distinction decides how you write the application.

In shortAustria's Umweltförderung im Inland funds Mess-, Steuerungs- und Regelungstechnik as a component of an industrial efficiency measure: 15% large, 20% medium and 25% small up to €150,000 of investment, 30% above that, plus 5% for EMAS companies. Investment must be €10,000 to under €1 million. Stand-alone metering is not a free-standing measure. KMU.DIGITAL is exhausted. Status as of 22 September 2026.

UFI Energiesparmaßnahmen: the scheme that names your equipment

The Kommunalkredit Public Consulting Umweltförderung im Inland (UFI) standard case for Energiesparen in Betrieben lists eligible components under „Effizienzsteigerungen bei industriellen Anlagen und Prozessen“. The list includes Mess-, Steuerungs- und Regelungstechnik alongside heat exchangers, heat pumps, free cooling, buffer storage, pumps, motors, compressors and frequency converters. The version read on 22 September 2026 is the Infoblatt dated 04/2026.

Rates, bands and the two numbers that decide your case

Projects up to €150,000 of eligible investment: 15% large enterprise, 20% medium, 25% small.
Above €150,000: 30% of the Förderungsbasis, regardless of size.
EMAS bonus: an additional 5%, capped at €10,000, for EMAS-certified companies.
Investment band: at least €10,000 and below €1.0 million. Maximum grant per project €4.5 million.
Minimum saving: 4 tonnes CO₂ per year.
Applicants: businesses, non-profits, associations, religious institutions and Austrian municipalities.

The step at €150,000 is worth planning around. A €140,000 project by a medium-sized firm draws 20%, or €28,000. The same firm at €160,000 draws 30%, or €48,000. Splitting a rollout into two small phases can cost more grant than it saves in cash flow. Check the current Infoblatt before you phase anything — this is the kind of rule that moves between versions.

The condition that mattersStand-alone Messtechnik, energy-management systems, monitoring, sensors and software are not listed as free-standing eligible measures in the UFI standard case. They qualify as MSR technology integrated into an eligible efficiency measure. In practice that means the application is written around the physical measure — the compressor, the heat recovery, the process change — and the metering and control layer rides along as part of it. A submission whose subject line is “monitoring system” is the wrong shape.

Energiemanagement — Flexibilisierung im Verteilnetz

This is the closest thing in Austria to a dedicated energy-management-system grant. It funds „Planung, Anschaffung, Installation und Konfiguration von kommunikationsfähigen, automatisierten Energiemanagementsystemen“ — planning, purchase, installation and configuration of communication-capable, automated energy-management systems that control generators, loads, storage and electrical equipment, both to find efficiency opportunities and to respond to market and grid signals. It is a non-repayable grant, funded by the Klima- und Energiefonds.

Open to: businesses, non-profits and associations with low-voltage grid connections (network levels 6–7).
Deadline: submissions until 15 April 2027, 12:00.
Rate and ceilings: not stated on the programme page read on 22 September 2026. The Leitfaden has to be read before any figure is quoted.

Do not quote a rateWe found no funding percentage and no minimum or maximum amount on the Energiemanagement–Flexibilisierung page. Anyone quoting a rate for this scheme is taking it from somewhere we could not verify. Ask Kommunalkredit Public Consulting for the Leitfaden and read the figure there.

The Ausschreibung that is too big for most plants

The Energieeffizienz-Ausschreibung Juli 2026 is a competitive UFI call for end-energy-efficiency improvements in existing commercial and industrial facilities — process efficiency, heat recovery, waste-heat heat pumps, heating optimisation, free cooling. The deadline is 12 October 2026, 12:00. It requires a minimum investment of €1.0 million and a minimum saving of 1.0 GWh per year. A typical metering and monitoring project of €30,000 to €300,000 does not reach that on its own; it only gets there inside a much larger capital programme. Funding rate and maxima were not stated on the page read.

KMU.DIGITAL is finished — stop planning around it

The KMU.DIGITAL site states plainly that the budget is fully exhausted and that applications for consulting and implementation funding are no longer possible: „Das Budget von KMU.DIGITAL 4.0 ist vollständig ausgeschöpft.“ It adds that, because of federal budget consolidation, the programme will not be continued from 2027. The BMWET page records €35 million allocated for 2024–2026, and roughly €25 million and 25,000 consulting and implementation initiatives since 2017. If a digitalisation business case for an Austrian plant still assumes a KMU.DIGITAL contribution, it needs rebuilding on the UFI schemes.

The Austrian schemes side by side

Austrian funding routes for a metering, monitoring or energy-management project
Programme	What it funds	Rate	Ceiling	Status 22 Sep 2026
UFI — Energiesparmaßnahmen (Standardfall)	Industrial efficiency measures, including Mess-, Steuerungs- und Regelungstechnik as a component	15% large / 20% medium / 25% small up to €150k; 30% above €150k; +5% EMAS	Investment €10,000 to under €1.0m; max grant €4.5m; EMAS bonus capped €10,000	Open — Infoblatt version 04/2026
Energiemanagement — Flexibilisierung im Verteilnetz	Planning, purchase, installation and configuration of automated, communication-capable energy-management systems	Not stated on the page read	Not stated on the page read	Open to 15 April 2027, 12:00
UFI — Energieeffizienz-Ausschreibung Juli 2026	Process efficiency, heat recovery, waste-heat heat pumps, heating optimisation, free cooling	Not stated on the page read	Min €1.0m investment and ≥1.0 GWh/yr saving	Open to 12 October 2026, 12:00 — out of range for a typical monitoring ticket
KMU.DIGITAL	—	—	—	Budget exhausted; programme not continued from 2027

Sources: umweltfoerderung.at UFI Infoblatt ENERGSPA version 04/2026, umweltfoerderung.at Energiemanagement and Energieeffizienz-Ausschreibung pages, kmudigital.at and bmwet.gv.at, all read 22 September 2026.

What a monitoring project can and cannot get funded here

Can: the measurement, control and regulation layer of an industrial efficiency measure, at 15–30% under UFI, once the measure itself is eligible.
Can: an automated, communication-capable energy-management system under Energiemanagement–Flexibilisierung, if the site sits on network level 6 or 7 — at a rate you must read in the Leitfaden, before 15 April 2027.
Cannot: a stand-alone metering or monitoring rollout submitted as its own UFI measure. It is not on the list of free-standing measures.
Cannot: an OEE or downtime-monitoring project with no energy or CO₂ saving. UFI's standard case requires at least 4 tonnes of CO₂ saved per year.
Cannot: anything under KMU.DIGITAL. The budget is gone and the programme ends.

The audit duty that is not yet in Austrian law

Austria has not published its transposition of the recast Energy Efficiency Directive. The Bundes-Energieeffizienzgesetz was last amended by BGBl. I Nr. 59/2023, in force 15 June 2023, which implements the earlier directives only; large companies owe an energy audit or a recognised energy-management system with a standardised short report every four years. As of 16 June 2026 there was no published draft for EED III transposition, with the delay attributed to the federal/Land competence split. Thresholds expected once it is transposed — above 23.61 GWh a certified EnMS by 11 October 2027, above 2.78 GWh an energy audit — come from a consultancy summary, not from a statute. Treat them as an expectation, not a rule. Plan against the law in force.

Status and disclosureStatus as of 22 September 2026. Rates, bands and deadlines change between Infoblatt versions. Read the current call documentation before you commit: UFI Infoblatt Energiesparmaßnahmen, Energiemanagement für Betriebe, kmudigital.at. This is not grant advice. These sites are published by TEEPTRAK SAS, which sells production-monitoring and OEE software; our interest is obvious, which is why the negative answers above are stated as plainly as the positive ones.

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Questions

Is measurement and control technology really eligible under UFI?: Yes, as a component. The UFI Infoblatt for Energiesparen in Betrieben, version 04/2026, names Mess-, Steuerungs- und Regelungstechnik among eligible components of efficiency improvements to industrial plant and processes. What it does not do is list stand-alone metering, monitoring, sensors or software as free-standing eligible measures. The application has to be built around the physical efficiency measure.
What rate would a medium-sized Austrian plant get?: Twenty per cent on eligible investment up to 150,000 euros, and 30 per cent of the Förderungsbasis above 150,000 euros, under the UFI standard case. An EMAS-certified company adds five percentage points, capped at 10,000 euros. Investment must be at least 10,000 euros and below 1.0 million euros, and the project must save at least 4 tonnes of CO2 a year. Status as of 22 September 2026.
What is the funding rate for the Energiemanagement-Flexibilisierung scheme?: Not published on the programme page as read on 22 September 2026. Only the form of support (a non-repayable grant), the eligible activities and the deadline of 15 April 2027 at 12:00 were stated. The Leitfaden has to be obtained from Kommunalkredit Public Consulting before any percentage is quoted.
Can we still use KMU.DIGITAL for a digitalisation project?: No. The KMU.DIGITAL site states that the KMU.DIGITAL 4.0 budget is fully exhausted and that applications for consulting and implementation funding are no longer possible, and that the programme will not be continued from 2027 because of federal budget consolidation. Austrian digitalisation cases have to be rebuilt on the UFI energy schemes.
Our project is 60,000 euros. Is the Energieeffizienz-Ausschreibung an option?: No. That call requires a minimum investment of 1.0 million euros and a minimum saving of 1.0 GWh a year, with a deadline of 12 October 2026 at 12:00. A project of that size only reaches the threshold as part of a much larger capital programme. The UFI standard case, with its 10,000 euro floor, is the route that fits.

Sources

Published by TEEPTRAK SAS, which makes production-monitoring and OEE software. Every figure is sourced on the page. Funding rules, standards and reporting duties change: check the official documents before you budget or commit.