Success of the VEC II: the Government approves another fifteen projects and exhausts the budget of the call

• With these new final awards, more than 528.7 million euros of subsidy have been awarded, which represents more than 95% of the EU funds of the call • Héctor Gómez: “We are proud of the success achieved in this call, fruit of the leadership in the new industrial revolution, of the dialogue with the sector and of the understanding of the cultural change that is taking place in our society” • The projects definitively approved in this new round correspond to four projects of Stellantis, Scutum Logistic, Borgwarner, Benteler, Refinasol Battmat, Mindcaps, Lotte, Mobis, Scoobic, Lithium Iberia and Extremadura Lithium Technology

November 10, 2023.- The Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism has today published a new round of definitive aid to projects for the production of electric vehicle batteries and their components corresponding to PERTE VEC II. In this way, 15 new projects worth 190.4 million euros are finally authorized.

With these new final awards, the total budget allocated amounts to 528.7 million euros of subsidy, which represents more than 95% of the European funds included in the call for proposals. To this amount is added 100 million euros of credit. Altogether, the grants have been distributed so far in 26 projects of 21 companies.

Of the fifteen projects definitively approved in this new round, Stellantis stands out, with 66.3 million euros for four projects, among them the Zaragoza giga-factory, which receives 55.9 million; Lotte, with 49.2 million euros of subsidy; and Refinasol Battmat, with 15.7 million euros. In addition, Extremadura’s lithium technology gets 18.8 million euros, Lithium Iberia gets 13.3 million euros and Mobis 12.7 million euros.

These companies join the list of definitive companies previously published and in which are Envision, SEAT, Grupo Gestamp, Renault, Ford, Basquevolt and Beecycle, among others.

The acting Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism, Héctor Gómez, wanted to highlight that "we are proud of the success achieved in this call, fruit of the leadership in the new industrial revolution, of the dialogue with the sector and of the understanding of the cultural change that is taking place in our society." “As I committed myself at the beginning of my period at the head of the Ministry, we have fulfilled,” he added.

The Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism has carried out in this second call an important work of adaptation of the program according to the opportunities for improvement detected after the call of 2022, to the demands of the sector channeled through the associations and to the new financial and regulatory conditions.

The Ministry’s team is putting at your disposal all your time, delivery and means so that the aid, which has been resolved by simple concurrence, that is, by order of arrival, reaches the beneficiaries as soon as possible.

“Exciting future” with the third call

The Ministry is already working on a third call for the PERTE VEC, which will come out at the beginning of 2024 equipped with more than 1.2 billion euros. As in the previous one, the communication with the interested companies will be continuous with the aim of clearing any doubts about the process of presentation of the projects, as well as the European framework and its requirement in terms of deadlines.

In addition, the Ministry has begun to review the second line, section B, of PERTE VEC II, which focuses on developing new models of electric vehicles and battery and fuel cell prototypes, as well as giving them a second life. The first provisional resolutions will begin to be published in December of this year.

“Spain is extremely competitive at the energy level, with a wide deployment of renewable energies that makes the price of electricity very attractive to international companies. We are convinced that, thanks to contact and intense public-private collaboration, PERTE VEC III will be as successful as the two,” said Gómez.

Stellantis bets on Spain

“Investments such as Stellantis represent a priority for this government and the territories chosen to deploy their projects,” said Héctor Gómez, acting Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism.

In a statement issued by the company to the Ministry, "the Stellantis group is committed to Spain as a recipient of the investments planned for future industrial projects, for which, in addition to the high levels of competitiveness, quality and social climate of our plants, the support of public institutions is essential".

Stellantis believes that it is necessary to continue working closely with the national and regional administrations, especially with the Government of Aragón, so that the projects are economically viable and materialize. In this sense, the company is working with the Government of Spain on a road map that, beyond the PERTE VEC II and through other existing mechanisms and lines, allows to create the conditions to reach the level of necessary aid.

The full listing can be found at the following link: https://www.mincotur.gob.es/PortalAyudas/PERTE-BAT/Concesion/2023/Paginas/concesion.asp