· The funds have been allocated by the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge.
· At national level, a total of 818.3 million euros will be allocated to a total of 126 projects that will add 2.2 GW of additional power and 9.4 GWh of storage capacity.
The Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO) has announced the final result of the call for aid for investment projects in storage, with 126 selected projects to which a total of 818.3 million euros will be allocated from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF 2021-2027). The success of the call, with 1,750 applications received, has finally forced to increase by almost 17% the allocation of 700 million initially planned.
Among the beneficiaries, seven projects are based in the Community of Madrid, specifically in the municipalities of Torrejón de Velasco, Fuenlabrada, Humanes de Madrid, Móstoles (2), Paracuellos de Jarama and Alcalá de Henares. Among all of them, they add a combined power of 49.50 MW and a storage capacity of 117.75 MWh. The total amount of subsidies at the regional level is 7.99 million euros.
Types of aid
With regard to the nature of the aid, special mention should be made of hybrid storage projects, with 69 dossiers, followed by standalone batteries (39) and, to a lesser extent, thermal storage (15) and pumping (3). In total, they will add up to 2.2 GW of additional power and 9.4 GWh of storage capacity.
The renewable technologies involved in hybrid storage projects are predominantly solar photovoltaic (38) and wind (18). There are also nine initiatives with thermoelectric hybridisation and the remaining four combine storage with photovoltaic and wind generation at the same time.
Once operational, the new facilities will contribute to providing greater flexibility to the electricity system and will favor the integration of renewable energies, accelerating decarbonization by ensuring the cheapest and emission-free energy supply. The maximum period for the execution of the actions will be 36 months from the definitive granting of the aid, and must be completed before December 31, 2029.
This line of incentives (PINALM) is financed with European funds from the FEDER 2021-2027 program managed by the Institute for Diversification and Energy Saving (IDAE), an agency attached to MITECO.
By autonomous communities
The aim of the European ERDF funds is to strengthen socio-economic cohesion within the European Union by reducing disparities between the levels of development of the different regions. The way to correct these imbalances is by financing structural investments in less-favoured territories, promoting sustainable development and addressing environmental challenges.
For this reason, the aid for energy storage projects was based on a budget allocated by autonomous communities, with greater allocations to those considered less developed or in transition.
The final selection of the beneficiary projects has been made according to the budget assigned to each CCAA, separating the eligible projects by type of storage and sorting by score, in a first round, until the budget is exhausted. Where there are surpluses, the amount has been distributed in the second round among the other projects of the Autonomous Community, ordered by the score obtained initially. In the third round, the dossiers have competed for the surplus budget in each transition zone.
As a result of this mechanic, and once all the allegations have been examined, Andalusia will host 31 projects, the Comunitat Valenciana 15 and Galicia 11, among the most outstanding. They are followed by Castilla-León (10) and Catalonia and the Canary Islands, both with 9. Extremadura and Castilla-La Mancha will develop 8 each, and 7 Aragón and Comunidad de Madrid, respectively. The rest is divided between Cantabria, Asturias, Murcia, the Basque Country and the Balearic Islands.
In order to facilitate the implementation of the projects, the beneficiaries will be able to apply to the IDAE for advances of up to 100% of the amount of aid granted, in accordance with the conditions reflected in the bases of the call.
Greater penetration of renewable energies
This boost to the development of energy storage will help ensure the transformation of the energy system to make it more flexible, robust and resilient. The reinforcement of this technology will also achieve greater penetration of renewable energy sources into the Spanish electricity system, since storage acts as an enabling and management element for them.
It is also expected that the increase in this type of installation and the improvement in the availability of renewable sources will result in lower energy costs.
The aid will at the same time reduce Spain’s dependence on fossil fuels, by increasing renewable participation in the electricity mix, facing the climate crisis, in line with the provisions of both the National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan (PNIEC) and the REPower EU Plan.
730 million of the PRTR for storage
This ERDF aid for energy storage is in addition to previous specific support programmes implemented by MITECO and IDAE under the NextGenEU funds of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR). Grant lines for innovative hybrid, standalone, thermal and reversible pump storage facilities, as well as R&D and island projects, among others, that have added incentives worth 730 million.
In addition to facilitating the decarbonisation of the Spanish electricity system, support for these storage systems will strengthen the development of a European industrial fabric capable of supplying equipment, manufacturing or assembling components and maintaining storage projects with the various existing technologies (batteries, pumping systems and thermal storage). It will thus follow in the footsteps of the wind and photovoltaic sector, in which Spain is already self-sufficient in technological and productive capacity.
You can consult the detail of the grants in this link