The Government reinforces aid programs for self-consumption, storage and thermal installations with renewables

The Council of Ministers, at the proposal of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO), has approved today the reinforcement of the incentive programs for self-consumption and storage systems with renewable energies, and for renewable thermal systems in homes and in different sectors of the economy. For example, the self-employed will be able to benefit and deploy self-consumption in their workplaces, in addition a specific quota is authorized for them, the Energy Services Companies (ESE) and the penetration of the heat pump are also promoted.

The incentive programs that the Government has reinforced are part of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR), are included in Royal Decree 447/2021 and Royal Decree 1124/2021, and are managed by the Institute for Diversification and Energy Savings (IDAE), a body dependent on MITECO.

The modification of RD 477/2021 introduces changes such as:

· The self-employed are included as beneficiaries of the self-consumption promotion subprograms and may deploy self-consumption facilities in a workplace other than their home. In addition, the possibility is established that in the budget extensions a specific quota is reserved for them.

· The ESE company model or investment by third parties is promoted so that it can be a company that carries out the installations for individuals or other companies, thus facilitating the installation of self-consumption when the consumer does not have the capacity to undertake the investment.

· The storage capacity that can be installed becomes more flexible, going from 2 kWh/kW to 5 kWh/kW, in line with the growing generalization of storage solutions.

Among the modifications of RD 1124/2021, for its part, the range of heat pumps that are eligible in the program is expanded, to facilitate a greater deployment of this technology, thus expanding the equipment that can be installed, many of them manufactured in Spain. In addition, a reference to the minimum seasonal average performance to be met in this technology for cold production applications in building air conditioning is incorporated. This incorporation is motivated by the upcoming publication of the European regulations that will establish the methodology for calculating the amount of renewable energy provided by these applications.

PROMOTION OF SELF-CONSUMPTION, SUCCESS OF THE PROGRAM

Royal Decree 477/2021, of June 29, approved the concession of 660 million euros, expandable to 1,320 million, in aid for self-consumption facilities (up to 900 million), storage behind the meter (up to 220 million) and air conditioning with renewable energy (up to 200 million).

This is one of the first aid programs launched within the framework of the PRTR and is the first on a large scale aimed specifically at self-consumption and storage. Currently, the Autonomous Communities are exhausting the initial budgets and requesting extensions, which confirms the interest and potential of self-consumption in our country.

With these lines, it is expected to incorporate 1,850 MW of renewable generation into the system. The creation of more than 25,000 direct and indirect jobs is estimated, a GDP growth of 1.7 million euros for every million aid and a reduction in CO2 emissions of more than one million tons per year.

It consists of six subprograms, according to the sectors and the technology to be developed, in which equipment and materials are subsidized; civil work; electromechanical, hydraulic, control and auxiliary equipment; management and monitoring systems, drafting projects, technical reports and facultative management, among other actions.

The aid varies depending on the beneficiary and the type of installation:

· In the case of photovoltaic solar energy, aid ranges from 15%, for a large company, to 45% for an SME or a system of less than 10 kW; individuals can benefit from 40%, 50%, in the case of collective self-consumption, and public administrations from 70%.

· In wind power, the subsidy ranges from 20% for the largest installation in large companies and 50% in small systems for SMEs; individuals get 50% and public administrations 70%.

· In storage behind the counter, the aid for companies varies between 45% and 65%, depending on the size, while individuals, administrations and the third sector benefit from 70%.

· In air conditioning with renewables, aid varies between 40% and 70%, depending on the technology used. Public administrations that own residential buildings can obtain 70%.

In addition, and with the aim of to face the demographic challenge, all these concepts increase by 5% in those municipalities with less than 5,000 inhabitants and in municipalities with less than 20,000 inhabitants in rural areas whose different population centers have less than 5,000 inhabitants.

PROMOTION OF RENEWABLE THERMAL ENERGY

For its part, the Incentive Program for the implementation of thermal renewable energy facilities in different sectors of the economy, regulated in RD 1124/2021, has an initial budget of 150 million, expandable according to demand and the development of the Projects.

These subsidies promote renewable thermal energy in productive sectors such as industry, agriculture or services, but also in public sector establishments and infrastructures that contribute to the decarbonisation process of the economy and, in the case of companies, consolidate their competitiveness in the market.

They allow the commissioning of thermal solar energy, geothermal, ambient energy (aerothermal and hydrothermal), biomass or micro-grids of heat and cold, subsidized up to 1 MW of power only for the latter, with applications for the production of cold and/or or heat in buildings (sanitary hot water and air conditioning) or in industrial processes: cleaning, drying, thermal baths for surface treatment, laundry services, vehicle washing, pasteurization and conservation of perishable products, air conditioning of warehouses for industrial use, livestock and greenhouses etc

The eligible costs include the investment in equipment and materials, the costs of carrying out the works or the control and monitoring systems of both the production and the demand for thermal energy, as well as civil works necessary for the execution of the projects. .

The aid granted covers 70% of these costs in the public sector and up to 45% in the case of small businesses, and in both areas it increases by 5% in areas of demographic challenge.

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