MITECO grants 28 million euros to 15 projects that will expand renewable power and storage capacity in Balears

The selected initiatives increase the renewable generation by 49,625 MW and the storage capacity by 53.50 MWh

The Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO), through the Institute for Diversification and Energy Saving (IDAE), awards 28 million euros of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR) to promote renewable generation facilities with special stimulus to storage and network security in the Balearic Islands. In particular, support is given to 15 photovoltaic projects hybridized with storage, which will increase the renewable generation by 49,625 MW and have, together, a storage capacity of 53.50 MWh.

Among the selected projects14 are linked to new photovoltaic installations and the vast majority will carry out crowdfunding campaigns to have the required citizen participation. In addition, the access of small players to the electricity market has been prioritized with 4 projects with less than 1 MW of generation power and another 5 below 5 MW.

Of the newly built facilities, 9 are located in Mallorca –equipped with 22.21 million for a combined power of 45.20 MW and a storage capacity of 38.45 MWh–; 4 in Ibiza –with aid of 1.31 million, with which the generation will be expanded by 2.04 MW and the storage by 1.76 MWh– and one, in Menorca –which will receive 1.36 million, and will increase the power by 2.385 MW and the storage capacity by 2.14 MWh–.

Likewise, a new storage system is subsidized in an already existing installation, in particular, in a photovoltaic installation in the municipality of Es Mercadal, in Menorca, with a generation power of 5,524 MW. Its objective is to incorporate a storage system with a capacity of 11.18 MWh, for which it will receive an aid of 3.161 million.

This aid, included within Component 7, Investment 2, “Sustainable Energy in the Islands”, of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, covers between 40% and 65% of the investment made.

ISLAND SINGULARITY

The peculiarities of electrical systems in non-peninsular territories, derived from their isolated nature and their small size, make it difficult to integrate electricity production from renewable energy sources. The demand in the islands is mostly covered by fossil thermal technologies, with the participation of renewable sources still modest.

For this reason, within component 7 of the PRTR – Deployment and integration of renewable energies – a specific investment is defined, the C7.I2 – Sustainable Energy in the islands – which establishes the development of clean energies in the islands as a key milestone and provides specific investments in support of projects for penetration and integration of renewable energies in the island systems.

The objective is an adequate integration of renewables in the territory and that they can provide firm power, network security and other services, while reducing dependency on fossil fuels, also reducing their excessive energy costs.