The Institute for the Fair Transition (ITJ), an autonomous body of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO) held today, at the headquarters of the Government Delegation in Galicia, an informative meeting to which mayors of the nineteen municipalities included in the Fair Transition Agreements of Meirama and As Pontes were invited to participate. The Government delegate in Galicia, José Miñones, and the director of the ITJ, Laura Martín, presided over this meeting, which was also attended by the Government subdelegate in A Coruña, María Rivas.
José Miñones highlighted at the meeting the work of the Institute for the Just Transition that is making it possible to move towards a sustainable economic model based on clean energies while protecting employment and generating new wealth in the territories that have to face the closure of thermal power plants,
CITY COUNCIL GRANTS
Among the participants were those who have been beneficiaries - in provisional resolution - of the aid for municipal infrastructures of the Recovery Plan, Component 10 of Just Transition, which endowed with 91 million euros is destined to digital, environmental and social infrastructures for the 197 municipalities of just transition. Pending the final resolution, which is expected to be published in the coming weeks, the draft provisional resolution was published on 10 February and can be consulted here.
The projects presented are aimed at rehabilitating public buildings to host international meetings of traditional activities, the recovery of natural environments, the creation of roads and urban green spaces to improve the quality of life of citizens, as well as the recovery of heritage. There are also several proposals to enable spaces for multiple uses: senior and conciliation centers, entrepreneurship rooms and support for SMEs or training classrooms. There are also projects that promote social housing.
The high participation rate and the technical quality of the projects presented have prompted the ITJ to work on a new call for grants with 25 million euros that would be launched later this year. Thus, the municipalities have a new opportunity to materialize their proposals.
SUPPORT FOR COMPANIES LOCATED IN AREAS OF JUST TRANSITION
The director of the ITJ has conveyed to the mayors the need to support the dissemination of the new aid to companies that the BOE published on March 7. Endowed with 40 million euros, they are intended to support job-creating business projects located in areas of Just Transition. This call will be completed with the imminent publication of a line of grants of 10 million for small investment projects.
VISIT TO CERCEDA AND AS PONTES
After the meeting held with mayors and mayors, the director of the ITJ and the deputy delegate of the Government in A Coruña, María Rivas, have started a tour to know some projects supported by MITECO that are already in progress and the locations of those who will start their activity soon.
In Cerceda, they will visit this morning the Municipal Building of Xesteda financed with 77,798 euros (71% of the planned investment) through the line of aid for local entities affected by the closure of coal-fired thermal power plants (Order TEC 1141/2019). The project will generate 3 new jobs.
They will also know the water park that will benefit, according to the provisional resolution of aid for infrastructures of the Recovery Plan, of an aid of 1.2 million to improve its energy efficiency with renewable energy facilities that will allow it to increase the annual opening days. In addition, the municipality will improve its tourist offer thanks to the help of almost half a million euros for the regeneration of the river promenade of the Cabancos River, its integration with the environment and its connection with the water park and the botanical garden.
In the afternoon they will travel to As Pontes, where they will check the progress of the works of their logistics center, subsidized by the Government of Spain through the aid of the Institute for the Just Transition. They will also know the location of the project of the smart tyre manufacturing plant that Sentury Tyre plans to build in the municipality.
INFORMATIVE DAYS: MEIRAMA AND AS PONTES AGREEMENTS
On Wednesday, March 15, the ITJ will hold an information day on the evolution of the work of the Fair Transition Agreement of Meirama at the Cerceda Business Incubator. On Thursday 16 he will do so on the Agreement of As Pontes in the Dopeso House of this municipality.
Representatives of the municipalities belonging to each of the Conventions, companies, associations and other local actors are invited to participate in these days. They are the area where the projects supported by the ITJ and the Institute for Diversification and Energy Saving (IDAE) in the area are presented, as well as the future lines of support promoted by the Government of Spain through the General State Budgets or with funds of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, to which the lines of aid of the Just Transition Fund that will be managed by the Xunta de Galicia are added.
In addition, the projects promoted by the 'Agreement for a Fair Energy Transition for Thermal Power Plants in Closure: Employment, Industry and Territories' signed in March 2021 between the Government, the trade unions and the companies holding the thermal power plants will be followed up. The main focus of this agreement is the maintenance of employment in the territories and their economic and industrial dynamization through the search for new investments.
In Cerceda, the comprehensive circular economy project based on the management and treatment of slurry and biomethane production and the renewable hydrogen production project, both promoted by Naturgy, Reganosa and Repsol, will be presented.
The As Pontes day will reveal the results of Endesa’s Futur-e Plan for the social and economic development of the area and the active initiatives such as the Sentury Tyre tyre plant. Also the renewable hydrogen production project promoted by EDP and Reganosa, which is supported by IDAE, and the bioplant for the recovery, development and production of biomaterials from Ence. All of them are designed to create more localized industrial jobs than those lost with the closure of both thermal power plants.