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MITECO awards almost 94 million euros to two reversible pumping projects in Asturias

20/07/2026
MITECO awards almost 94 million euros to two reversible pumping projects in Asturias

The reversible pumping hydroelectric plant in Grandas de Salime will receive 45 million and the reversible pumping plant of La Barca 48.82 million.

The Institute for Energy Diversification and Saving (IDAE) has allocated EUR 165 million in support of the incentive programme for innovative energy storage projects through reversible pumping

The Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO), through the Institute for Diversification and Energy Saving (IDAE), has allocated 165 million euros in support of the incentive program for innovative energy storage projects through reversible pumping (BORALMAC 2), almost 94 million for two projects in Asturias: the reversible pumping hydroelectric plant in Grandas de Salime (45 million) and the reversible pumping plant of La Barca (48.82 million).

Given the high amount of aid requested, the budget was extended in April by 75 million out of the 90 million initially foreseen, which is yet another proof of the interest aroused by this NextGenEU-funded program of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR).

The final resolution of BORALMAC 2, available here, It includes the promotion of seven reversible pumping projects in different parts of the Spanish territory. The beneficiary hydroelectric power plants are located in Andalusia, Asturias (2), Aragon, Extremadura, Catalonia and Galicia. In total, the projects will add 2,071 MW of installed generation capacity and will increase the storage capacity of the electricity system by 21,091 MWh.

The vast majority of the grants awarded (6) will be devoted to the creation of new reversible hydroelectric power plants, while one of them, located in Extremadura, will use infrastructures in existing facilities to improve hydraulic storage capacity.

This new edition of the BORALMAC program aims to continue the path successfully initiated in the first call, in which grants worth 100 million – the total expected – were awarded to four pumping projects, adding just over 2 GW of new hydraulic storage power. This aid program will provide greater firmness to the electricity networks in a scenario of greater penetration of renewables and will provide more flexibility and management capacity to the network, contributing to security, reliability and quality of supply.

SELECTION CRITERIA

In the selection process of the call, in addition to the economic viability of the projects presented, the technical characteristics enabling the integration of non-manageable renewables and their contribution to the resilience of the electricity system, the degree of administrative maturation of the project and various criteria of positive externalities such as the location in municipalities of demographic challenge or fair transition, the impact on the national or European value chain, political and social acceptance in the territory, criteria of gender equality or the degree of innovation of the projects have been taken into account.

In cases where it considers it necessary, the IDAE may advance the aid awarded to the beneficiary entity to facilitate the financing of the projects. This advance will consist of the payment, by the Institute and after deposit of guarantee, of an advance payment of all or part of the aid granted.

FUNDAMENTALS IN THE ENERGY TRANSITION

This line of aid seeks to strengthen the country’s electricity infrastructure, meeting the objectives established in the National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan (PNIEC) and the Energy Storage Strategy, through direct support to innovative projects of hydraulic storage by pumping.

In this context, reversible hydroelectric plants are called to play a fundamental role in the energy transition, allowing to manage the variability of the generation, providing firmness and security of supply to the electrical system and, with this, limiting the possible discharges generated by non-manageable renewable energies and maximizing their penetration. This will achieve the long-term sustainability and decarbonization objectives planned for 2050.