The Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO), through the Institute for Energy Savings and Diversification (IDAE), has granted 150 million euros of NextGenEU funds to encourage 36 storage projects connected to renewable generation facilities –mainly photovoltaic and wind– throughout the territory. These innovative initiatives, which total a power of 904 MW, will drive progress to consolidate a renewable storage park in Spain of 22 GW in 2030, in line with the objectives of the Energy Storage Strategy and the draft update of the Integrated Energy and Climate Plan (PNIEC) 2021-2030. The result of this call contributes to the fulfillment of the milestones and goals of Component 8 of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR).
This first line of aid for innovative hybrid energy storage projects with renewable installations, included within the PERTE-ERHA for Renewable Energy, Renewable Hydrogen and Storage, awards the total planned aid – 150 million – among the 36 projects selected in competitive competition, which demonstrates the sector's high interest in storage to provide flexibility and adaptability to the electrical system. An interest that has exceeded the available budget, since 266 applications have submitted to the call whose requests for subsidies multiplied the available amount by seven.
Most of the projects benefiting from aid are aimed at incorporating or reinforcing storage capacity in wind or photovoltaic generation facilities using electrochemical technology. They are located in 27 municipalities in nine autonomous communities: Andalusia, Aragon, Castilla y León, Comunitat Valenciana, Galicia, Illes Balears, Navarra, Castilla-La Mancha and Extremadura. The latter two stand out above all, as they have the most powerful projects – an additional 632.4 MW – and concentrate the majority of the aid: 95.4 million the sum of both.
A total of 27 initiatives – three out of four – are located in areas of demographic challenge and/or just transition. Together, the 36 projects will mobilize investments of around 570 million.
Storage is a fundamental technology to guarantee a 100% renewable electricity system in 2050. By the end of 2023, almost 51% of the electricity generated in Spain is already of renewable origin.
The PERTE EHRA is a complete program of instruments and measures to develop technology, knowledge, industrial capabilities and new business models that reinforce Spain's leadership position in the field of clean energy. It will mobilize an investment of more than 16.3 billion, between contributions from the Recovery Plan and private funds.
In addition to this call for aid for innovative hybrid energy storage projects with renewable installations, the PERTE_ERHA includes three other lines of aid aimed at activating innovative projects and new business models linked to storage, including those related to independent electrical, thermal and reversible pumping, for a total of 446 million. Added to these are the aid programs for self-consumption and the promotion of renewables in island territories, already resolved, which are committed to storage as a key eligible technology.
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