- The Government highlights that 280,000 direct, indirect and induced jobs could be created
- One goal is to produce 4 MW of electricity with green hydrogen by 2030
The Government has approved the PERTE of Renewable Energies, Renewable Hydrogen and Storage (ERHA), to develop clean energies. Its instruments and measures will mobilize a total investment of more than 16.3 billion euros to build an energy transition that will create more than 280,000 jobs, between direct, indirect and induced.
The Minister of Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera , has pointed out that the objective of PERTE is to “position Spain as a technological benchmark, develop and deploy technologies, consolidate the value chains of renewable energies, and promote social innovation and business models and their integration in the different productive sectors “.
The recovery plan establishes that almost 40% of the investments will go to the ecological transition. PERTE ERHA is linked to Components 7, 8, 9, 10 and 17, dedicated to innovative renewables; to storage, flexibility and new models of intelligent energy management; renewable hydrogen; the Just Transition Strategy; and to the complementary R + D + i plans, respectively.
This core area includes 25 transformative measures, with a budget of the Ministry of Ecological Transition (MITECO) of 3,558 million and it is estimated that they will channel another 5,390 million of private capital. There are 17 facilitating measures, from training and improvements in the workplace, to the deployment of self-consumption in companies that causes a tractor effect, with an endowment of 3,362 million, which will attract more than 4,000 million of private investment.
Produce 4 GW with green hydrogen
Hydrogen is a key energy vector to “achieve a clean, safe and affordable energy future , because it allows decarbonizing sectors where it is complex to introduce sustainable solutions, such as heavy transport, the steel industry, cement, the chemical industry,” according to the miner. Ribera has detailed that Spain already has a roadmap that establishes the objective of reaching 4 GW of production capacity in 2030, 10% of the total in the EU.
The quantity and quality of renewable resources give Spain a competitive advantage in the incipient development of renewable hydrogen, which will allow it to become an  international technology hub. That is why the Executive considers it one of its priorities – a country project – and it is the element of PERTE that receives the most support: 1,555 million , which will mobilize another 2,800 million of private capital.
The financial support will be granted through calls for competitive participation to select the best projects. Ribera has advanced that the first ones will be opened next week and it is expected that they will be resolved next year. The bulk of the aid lines will be available between 2022 and 2023, and the beneficiary projects will run until 2026.
Some of the programs are already underway: four calls have just passed the public information phase, endowed with more than 500 million altogether for the promotion of the renewable hydrogen value chain, pioneering renewable hydrogen projects, R&D projects in energy storage and pilot projects for energy communities.
Technology and training centers
Thus, PERTE ERHA will pursue the participation of global SMEs specialized in technology centers and laboratories, as well as the development of centers of excellence and professional education and training. It will also subsidize heavy transportation applications – from ships to railways, trucks and buses – and large-scale electrolyzer projects , related to local industrial uses and commercial applications.
It will also promote renewable hydrogen clusters, linked to the current consumption points of hydrogen of fossil origin, to replace it with renewable hydrogen. In this case, economic efficiency in reducing CO2 emissions will be taken into account, among other requirements.
The deployment and integration of renewable energies is intended to comprehensively promote the chain of value and knowledge of renewable energies, considering their entire life cycle, with special attention to marine energies. The amount of aid amounts to 765 million, which will allow channeling another 1,600 million private.
In general terms, the support will focus on singular and innovation projects, and the reinforcement of the manufacturing capacity of equipment and components associated with renewables. Also in the replacement of old wind turbines with new machines – linked to the recycling and treatment of retired equipment – and in the development of biogas from any agricultural activity or waste recovery, as well as its conversion to biomethane.
Offshore wind
In order to deploy renewables in inland waters, in line with the roadmap for the development of offshore wind and marine energy, PERTE ERHA will fund the test platforms at a non-refundable fund  – Spain is the EU country with more EU R&D facilities for these technologies – will support pilot projects and pay for the logistics adaptation of port infrastructures.
Component 8 of the PRTR is dedicated to electrical infrastructures, promotion of smart grids and deployment of flexibility and storage , key elements to achieve a decarbonized, decentralized, democratized and digitized energy model. The plan establishes 620 million of support, capable of mobilizing another 990 million private.
Immature technology storage R&D initiatives will be supported, including commercial pilot projects and industrial research. New business models will also be promoted – such as demand aggregation or intelligent data management – and the deployment of independent or hybrid storage systems in renewable energy facilities.
The PERTE ERHA will allocate 30 million to enhance the facilities of the Ciuden Foundation to validate energy storage technologies or renewable hydrogen, among other developments, and will promote initiatives related to renewable energy and hydrogen with 588 million.
More than 280,000 jobs
The measures included in the PERTE ERHA will allow the creation of more than 280,000 jobs, between direct, indirect and induced in the rest of the economy. The transformative measures can generate more than 185,000 jobs work, while facilitating measures will add another 90,000 jobs. On the other hand, the investment mobilized by MITECO will generate an impact on GDP of over 12,300 million and a Gross Value Added of almost 11,000 million.
To these amounts must be added the socio-economic effect of the actions of other ministries and public administrations. The PRTR allows for cross-cutting acceleration of the actions planned in the energy and climate strategic framework, which is why it has been established, as a guiding objective, to focus the main efforts and signals foreseen until 2025 by the PNIEC in the period 2021-2023.
PERTE reserves a relevant role for the Institute for Energy Diversification and Saving (IDAE). This body, dependent on MITECO, will take shares in companies, UTEs, joint-ventures, and will create and promote financial instruments, such as investment funds or participating loans.
Photo description: The Minister of Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera. EFE / JJ Guillén
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