The Spanish Government Plans To Provide $170 Million in Funding For The Deployment Of Energy Storage Projects.

The Spanish government plans to provide €160 million ($170 million) in funding for energy storage projects deployed in the country. The funding is aimed at supporting a 600 MW energy storage project scheduled to be connected to the grid by 2026.

The Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge (MITECO) launched a public consultation on this funding plan on June 6th, seeking opinions on the proposal.

During the bidding process, MITECO will provide €150 million in funding for standalone energy storage projects that can be deployed independently or in conjunction with new or existing renewable energy generation facilities, including pumped hydroelectric energy storage (PHES) facilities. An additional €10 million in funding will be allocated for thermal energy storage projects.

As is customary in Spain's tendering process, there is also additional budget allocated for overseas regions, including €15 million for the Canary Islands and €4 million for the Balearic Islands.

MITECO describes the program as an "innovative" energy storage initiative, but apart from the aforementioned information, no further details regarding the storage technologies or performance standards have been provided.

The funding will cover approximately 40% to 65% of the project costs, depending on the scale of the application. Eligible energy storage projects will be assessed based on economic feasibility, their contribution to integrating renewable energy into the grid, and their potential to create employment and business opportunities during the development and operational phases.

MITECO aims to select suitable projects for funding in the fourth quarter of 2023, with the energy storage projects required to be operational by June 30, 2026. Spain has set a target of deploying 20 GW of energy storage systems by 2030.

The ministry has also launched a similarly scaled funding program specifically for co-location or hybrid deployment of energy storage projects. Enel Green Power submitted two eligible projects in the first quarter of this year, with storage capacities of 60 MWh and 38 MWh, respectively.