The Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO) opened the first call for aid for unique projects of biogas plants. It is endowed with 150 million euros from the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR) for the execution of the Next Generation EU funds and is aimed at actions for the use of energy from organic waste that promote the circular economy. In addition to economic and technological factors, the positive impact in Just Transition and Demographic Challenge areas, as well as in energy communities and SMEs, among others, will be assessed.
The call will remain open from September 12 to October 14, 2022 and the Institute for Energy Diversification and Saving (IDAE) will be in charge of managing these grants, which will be awarded on a competitive basis and will be implemented as a subsidy to be received by the beneficiary, definitively, once the execution of the project is verified and the eligible costs incurred are accredited.
Those singular projects of biogas plants that contribute to decarbonizing different sectors of the economy and allow increasing environmental protection and the achievement of the objectives set in the National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan (PNIEC) 2021-2030 and the Long-Term Energy Strategy 2050 will be eligible. Thus, the projects will have to contemplate one or more of the following actions:
– Facilities for biogas production through anaerobic digestion.
– Facilities for heat production, electricity generation, cogeneration or biomethane production.
– Facilities for digestate treatment for agricultural use.
Gases of renewable origin are part of the solution to achieve climate neutrality in 2050 and contribute to achieving the emission reduction and renewable energy penetration objectives proposed by Spain in 2030, included in the PNIEC. In areas such as transport, biogas will help Spain reach the PNIEC objective of 28% renewable energy in the sector.
Likewise, biomethane produced from biogas can gradually displace natural gas of fossil origin, especially in applications with high energy consumption or those that are difficult to electrify, such as heavy transport or industry that uses thermal energy intensively, which will reduce energy dependence of Spain and improve the security of energy supply.
In parallel, the deployment of biogas has numerous economic and social benefits. It allows the circular economy to be promoted and synergies to be created with local industries by prioritizing its use in locations close to its production, so that it contributes to the economic development of rural areas and to achieving objectives set out in cross-cutting policies of the Government of Spain.
In order to identify all these challenges and opportunities in Spain, the Council of Ministers approved the Biogas Roadmap on March 22, which plans to multiply current biogas production by 3.8 by 2030, strengthen the circular economy and set population in rural areas, thanks to the growth of the business value chain.
Source: MITECO
