Spanish Govt To Back 150 MW Solar On Canary Islands

• Spain has decided to allocate €20 million funding for the solar PV program for Canary Islands called SolCan
• Under the program, the government hopes to contract 150 MW of solar PV capacity
• IDAE will manage the program on behalf of the government and ERDF will co-finance the program
• Renewable energy industry and the local administration of Canary Islands will submit their feedback on the program post which the government will officially call for proposals

The Spanish government will be supporting the development of 150 MW of solar PV capacity on the Canary Islands with €20 million ($21.7 million) in funding. The Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO) said it will allocate the fund amount to the SolCan program – and it will be disbursed in 2020.

The SolCan program is dedicated to the growth of solar on Canary Islands and is awarded through competitive tenders. The government will now seek feedback from the local administration and the renewable energy sector to fine tune the call for the program before it will finally be approved by the Council of Ministers.

The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) will co-finance the capacity. The project will be managed by government agency, Institute for Diversification and Energy Saving (IDAE).

The ministry has previously launched similar programs – EoICan for wind power projects on Canary Islands and SolBal for PV on the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea. Under the latter, 326 MW of solar PV capacity was approved in the form of 55 projects in October 2019.

All these 3 programs represent the mobilization of €115 million ($125 million) in public support, approximately €620 million ($673.5 million) of investment and the launch of some 650 MW of renewables.