The Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO) has published the main principles of its support program aimed at achieving several objectives:
- Support for the creation of large valleys or clusters of renewable hydrogen, endowed with €1.2 billion from Next Generation EU funds.
- Supporting the industrial value chain of renewable energy sources and storage; endowed with €750 million.
- €250 million for innovative sustainable energy, storage and heat pump projects.
- 120 million euros to create more energy communities.
Green hydrogen valleys
The aid program for the creation of large valleys or renewable hydrogen clusters will receive 1.2 billion euros from the NextGenEU funds. The aim of this new helpline is to create renewable hydrogen valleys, large industrial centers or zones for generation and consumption.
The projects must meet the following requirements:
- Prior commitment to purchase 60% of production from consumers.
- Guarantee that the hydrogen produced is of renewable origin.
- Availability of high capacity electrolysers, with more than 100 MW.
- Possibility to form project groups with electrolysers of at least 50 MW.
- In addition, a maximum amount of support is set per company or project of one third of the available budget, or € 400 million.
Renewable energy industrial value chain + storage
In addition, the regulatory bases of the support line for the industrial value chain for renewable energy and storage have been published in the Government Gazette (BOE). This program aims to increase the strategic production capacity in Spain of solar panels, wind turbines, heat pumps, batteries, electrolysers and their essential components, and will subsidize projects aimed at promoting the innovative and knowledge value chain.
The scheme has been allocated €750 million from the Addendum to the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR). The support will be awarded on a competitive basis and will be implemented as a grant that the beneficiary will receive on a definitive basis, once the eligible expenditure has been accredited and the implementation of the project has been verified.
Miteco states that “the call for this helpline will be opened shortly.”
The essential equipment and components subject to the grant fall within the following lines of action:
- Electrical storage: Production and assembly of batteries, battery cells and battery packs. Batteries whose main purpose is to be used for electric mobility are not included.
- Photovoltaic solar energy: production and assembly of solar panels.
- Wind energy: Production and assembly of wind turbines.
- Heat pumps: Manufacture and assembly of heat pumps.
- Renewable hydrogen: production and assembly of electrolysers.
Support will be available for the creation of industrial sites for a new production activity of this equipment and its essential components anywhere on the national territory, as well as for the expansion of installed production capacity in existing centers, through the implementation of new production lines such as as well as the conversion of existing lines to obtain equipment or elements not previously in production at the factory.
Aid intensities may be increased by 20% for investments by small companies and by 10% for investments by medium-sized companies.
Innovative projects: renewable energy sources, storage and heat pumps
The BOE published the decision establishing the regulatory bases for the calls for support for innovative renewable energy and storage projects, as well as for the implementation of renewable thermal systems. This helpline will initially be endowed with €250 million from the PRTR for the implementation of the Next Generation EU funds.
The Institute for Energy Diversification and Savings (IDAE), part of MITECO, will be responsible for the management of these grants, which will be awarded on a competitive basis and will be implemented as a grant to be awarded by the beneficiary on a definitive basis received. once the project implementation has been verified. The call for this helpline will open soon and will be announced on the IDAE website and social networks.
It will subsidize projects aimed at promoting innovation in renewable energy sources on the following lines of action:
Incentive program 1: Innovative projects for agrovoltaic installations with storage.
- Subprogram 1.1: Agrovoltaic energy alternated with crops
- Subprogram 1.2: Agrovoltaic solar energy with structure over the crop 2 m ≤ h ≤ 4 m
- Subprogram 1.3: Agrovoltaic energy with structure on the crop h > 4 m
Incentive program 2: Innovative projects for floating photovoltaic installations in artificial spaces with storage.
Incentive program 3: Innovative projects for the integration of renewable energy sources with storage in infrastructures.
Incentive program 4: Innovative projects for collective self-consumption with storage with the participation of vulnerable consumers.
Incentive program 5: Innovative projects for sustainable heat pump installations.
Projects considered innovative in this order include agrovoltaic energy, floating photovoltaic installations, and photovoltaic, wind and hydropower installations in infrastructures, such as in highly anthropized spaces, including closed landfills or former mining sites. In these programs, the installations may be used for self-consumption as well as for sale to the grid, according to the applicable regulations.
Likewise, collective self-consumption with the participation of vulnerable consumers is considered innovative projects for the purposes of this decision.
Finally, the implementation of renewable heat pump installations is also seen as innovative projects.
The assessment of the projects will take into account economic criteria, as well as the degree of maturity of the proposal and the positive externalities of the projects.
Energy communities
Finally, the BOE published the regulatory foundations for the launch of an additional 120 million euros for the creation of unique energy community projects. These new stimulus lines, which will be charged to the PRTR, are part of the CE Implementa program, which is centrally managed by the IDAE. The call for this helpline will open soon and will be announced on the IDAE website and social networks.
The new CE Implementa 5 and 6 lines aim to promote multi-component projects that can combine different actions. In concrete terms, the intention is for energy communities to go beyond self-consumption. The level of support is increased for applications such as renewable air conditioning, sustainable mobility, bicycle sharing and storage systems with the aim of improving the integration of renewable energy sources.
The following assessment criteria are taken into account when awarding these subsidies:
- Multi-component projects: projects that are comprehensive, with more points for the combination of different actions.
- Administrative viability: projects that show a higher degree of maturity.
- Economic efficiency: higher points for projects that require a lower support rate.
- Positive externalities: energy communities that take into account vulnerable consumers, the gender perspective, that they are developed in municipalities with demographic challenges or a just transition, their impact on the national and European value chain, and that they are integrated into the local reality with the support of local government authorities.
Legal entities, public or private, legally and validly incorporated, having their tax residence in Spain and forming a Renewable Energy Community or a Citizen Energy Community, can benefit from this helpline. To participate, public entities must establish energy communities as a separate entity.
Actions implemented in at least one of the following action areas are eligible, and several of them can be implemented:
- Renewable electrical energy and storage (e.g. collective self-consumption of photovoltaic solar energy, small mini-hydraulic or mini-wind installations or small collective solar parks). Up to 60% of eligible costs.
- Thermal renewable energy (for air conditioning, such as a small local district network). Up to 80% of eligible costs.
- Energy efficiency. Up to 30% of eligible costs.
- Sustainable mobility (through the installation of charging points or car-sharing or bicycle-sharing systems). Up to 60% of eligible costs.
- Demand management. Up to 40% of eligible costs.
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