The Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO) of the Government of Spain has allocated 20 million euros from the European NextGenEU funds to a total of 11 industrial projects, with the autonomous community of Aragón among the beneficiaries. This capital injection, managed through the Institute for the Diversification and Saving of Energy (IDAE), is part of the second call of the RENOCOGEN 2 program, which aims to replace fossil fuels with renewable energy sources in cogeneration plants.
In the territorial distribution of these state aids, Aragón has achieved approval for one of the selected projects to undertake this energy transformation. The Aragonese region shares this level of allocation with other communities such as Andalusia, Cantabria, Castile and León, Castile-La Mancha, Valencia, Extremadura, and the Basque Country, each of which will also develop one project. Meanwhile, the region of Navarre leads the national allocation with three approved projects.
The purpose of this public funding line is to promote the strategic and energy autonomy of the system, as well as to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and mitigate their associated costs in the industrial sector. According to official estimates, this call will generate savings of over 34 million euros in the Spanish electric system, translating to an efficiency ratio of 1.7 euros saved for every euro of aid invested.
Technological Impact and Sectoral Diversity
Technically, the execution of the 11 projects will encourage the joint installation of 21.3 megawatts (MW) of electrical power and 17.3 MW of thermal power, produced entirely through renewable energies. Among the technologies chosen to carry out this energy replacement, there is a clear predominance of photovoltaic solar energy, which has been adopted by eight of the projects. Two other projects will use biomass as the main source, and the remaining initiative will implement a combination of photovoltaic energy and hydrothermal energy.
The business activities that will benefit from this program span a variety of industrial sectors, including the paper industry, brick industry, tanning and leather sectors, food sector, waste treatment, mining, and livestock operations.
Finally, Spanish environmental authorities emphasize that promoting renewable electrical and thermal energy production will yield significant socioeconomic benefits for the local communities involved, supporting job creation and strengthening the industrial fabric in regions such as Aragón. Furthermore, this measure will result in a direct reduction of CO2 emissions, contributing to the decarbonization of the economy in strict accordance with the Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan (PNIEC), Spain’s environmental roadmap aimed at the horizon of 2030.
