€12 Million For Innovative RE Projects In Galicia, Spain

• Spanish energy ministry MITECO has approved €12 million for IDAE to disburse to innovative renewable energy projects in Galicia region
• The proceeds will go on to support solar PV, wind, biogas and biomass projects with the largest amount of €9 million currently reserved for solar PV
• IDAE expects this grant to support addition of 28.53 MW of new renewable energy capacity in Galicia to be selected through competitive auction
• Renewable energy projects selected under this round will encourage use of clean energy by various industrial segments in the region

The Spanish Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO) has approved €12 million allocation for innovative renewable energy projects in the Galicia region to be awarded through the Institute for the Diversification and Saving of Energy (IDAE).

This new call will lead to an increase of 28.53 MW of new renewable energy generation in the region with the financial support proposed to be allocated as €9 million for solar PV, €2 million for wind energy and €500,000 each for agro-industrial biogas or industrial biogas and biomass projects.

Once IDAE can ascertain the capacity distribution, it will launch a competitive auction to select winning projects. It expects this round to mobilize an additional private investment of a minimum of €33.64 million.

This aid will go on to promote renewable energy use in the automotive, forestry and wood, tourism and electricity intensive sectors in the autonomous community of Galicia. The agency institute said this program can be co-financed by European Union (EU) funds as the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and reinforced with other European instruments to encourage economic recovery.

These grants are part of the €316 million financing package the IDAE is authorized by MITECO to disburse to support renewable energy projects of which it awarded €181 million on September 10, 2020 to support such initiatives in the 7 regions of Andalusia, Principality of Asturias, Castila-La Mancha, Catalonia, Extremadura, Madrid and Murcia, followed by another €24 million for projects in 5 regions of Aragon, Cantabria, the Valencian Community, La Rioja and Melilla. Last month on October 28, 2020 another €8 million were approved for thermal production with renewable energies in Galicia, which it says it complemented with this new call for electricity generation.

IDAE will continue to work with these regions till it exhausts all of €316 million. The institute is also working as the implementing agency for MITECO's SolBal (solar power for Balearic Islands), and SolCan (solar power for Canary Islands) programs (see Spanish Govt To Back 150 MW Solar On Canary Islands).