Spain and the Netherlands have launched subsidy schemes to support domestic manufacturing of clean energy technologies, including batteries and solar PV modules.
The moves come at a time when both sectors in Europe appear to be under threat from lower prices from China, as well as the US which has brought in generous tax credit incentives for clean energy manufacturing. The solar industry in particular is said to be in perilous position, as covered extensively by our sister site PV Tech.
Spain
The Spanish Ministry of Ecological Transition (MITECO) has opened a new incentive scheme for renewables and storage manufacturing to a public consultation.
The first round of the scheme will allocate over €750 million (US$811 million) based on the necessities outlined in the information gathered during the public consultation. The funds will be provided through Spain’s recovery and resilience plan (PRTR) and are aimed to incentivise the production of equipment and components for solar panels, batteries and electrolysers, among other technologies. According to MITECO, future rounds could add other aspects of the supply chain.
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One of the objectives of the scheme is to strengthen Spain’s domestic manufacturing and its strategic autonomy, as well as Europe’s.
Teresa Ribera, the Spanish minister of ecological transition, said the goal is not just to change the ‘colour’ of the molecules or electrons to green but also: “We want capital goods to be produced in Spain.”
The Institute for Energy Savings and Diversification (IDAE in Spanish) will oversee the scheme and the financial aid, which would include both existing and new projects. For existing projects, this includes the expansion of the annual capacity by adding a new production line or improving existing lines with equipment not previously in use. However, only projects that have not been started prior to the auction will be accepted.
The public consultation is open until 15 March and more details can be accessed here (in Spanish).
Netherlands
The Netherlands has launched a new subsidy aimed at supporting domestic manufacturing of solar panels, batteries and electrolysers.
Published earlier this month by the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO in Dutch), the new Manufacturing Industry Investment Subsidy Climate Neutral Economy (IMKE) will support companies in the Dutch manufacturing industry for solar panels, batteries and electrolysers for hydrogen production.
This new subsidy aims to reduce the Netherlands’ dependence on other countries to procure these components.
A consultation has been opened until 3 March 2024 and can be accessed here (in Dutch). The consultation aims to collect information regarding the conditions of the subsidy, its duration and the amount of the subsidy, among others.
The announcement of both schemes comes only weeks after the European Parliament and the EU Council agreed on new regulations to boost the region’s solar manufacturing industry with the Net Zero Industry Act (NZIA).
Full details of the NZIA are yet to be disclosed, but among the criteria implemented is a 50% quota on solar capacity auctioned by member states for which modules can be sourced from a single country per year.
The full original versions of these two articles can be read on PV Tech: Spain (here) and Netherlands (here).
