Ribera: EU funds is its commitment to storage, hydrogen, and innovative energies

The government has released budgets for 2022 that emphasizes the growth of a new energy economy, with a particular focus on hydrogen, storage, novel renewables, and energy communities.

However, it will only be able to move forward if European funds are available, as 2,876 million would be used to fund the entire industry.

Almost half of the 10,195 million euros managed by the Ministry for Energy Transition comes from the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism (MRR), or European monies. The additional energy and environmental taxes are estimated to bring in extra 1,440 million dollars (10.7 percent higher than the previous year in 2021).

The increase in the endowment for the Thermal Social Bonus, which is meant for consumers who cannot pay their gas bill, is included in the Industry and Energy strategy, which brings together two ministries and has an endowment of 11,316 million.

In addition, Industry Minister Reyes Maroto has stated that “at least” 470 million euros will be spent from his departure to develop all of the instruments included in the Statute of Electrointensive Consumers, which have been affected by the increase in electricity prices.

The MRR money, according to the PGE Yellow Book, will be used to establish the long-awaited green hydrogen sector, which will receive 555 million euros, contingent on the arrival of European funds.

It is proposed that this money be used to promote at least 500 MW of permitted electrolysis, in line with the Hydrogen Roadmap’s intermediate objectives, as well as to grow SMEs in order to strengthen the Spanish hydrogen value chain.

With the promotion of one or more renewable hydrogen clusters, where both production and consumption, among other things, are locally integrated, technological advancement and prototype development are also desired.

Energy storage is another field with a bright future. It also includes the promotion of smart grids to ensure that the energy system is transformed and becomes more flexible, strong, and resilient.

All of this will be funded with 351 million euros, all of which will come entirely from European funding. The 289 million earmarked for energy storage deployment, as well as the development of large-scale storage, stand out.

In addition, 62 million euros would be allocated to innovative business models such as second-life and recycling management, demand management, aggregators, flexibility services, data access, and regulatory test benches.

There’s a lot more. Aside from a 445 million incentive scheme for the installation of charge stations and the purchase of clean vehicles, the largest item is 630 million for the development of innovative renewables.

435 million of that will go toward the development of novel renewable energy systems that can be incorporated into buildings and manufacturing processes. Non-refundable aid and subsidies, as well as financial investments in thermal and electrical renewable energies, are planned to help with this.

It’s worth noting that the Canary and Balearic Islands are paying special attention to fostering renewable energy, with a planned investment of € 175 million.

Finally, $20 million will be set aside to encourage citizen participation in the energy transition through fostering the growth of energy communities.

According to MITECO, the Demographic Challenge has risen to the top of the Executive’s priority list, with a budget of more than 4,200 million divided among numerous ministries. 350 million euros will come from European funds in this case.

The General Secretariat for the Demographic Challenge’s budget has increased by 193.5 percent to over 56 million dollars. This is an additional 37 million earmarked for new actions such as the Territorial Cohesion Observatory, the Territorial Cohesion Fund, the Rural Campus, Innovative Projects, and Territorial Innovation Centers by autonomous communities, local entities, private companies, and non-profit organizations.

Thermal bond and pro bono social heat climbed by 43%, bringing the total number of energy-poor families to 157 million, or 1,270,897. In comparison to 2021, this is a 48 million increase.