The Government of Spain has just announced the first call for three grant programmes dedicated to projects for circular economy wind repowering, hydroelectric renovation and wind turbine blade recycling, respectively, with a joint allocation of 222.5 million euros of NextGenerationEU funds, managed through the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan.

The initiative, entitled Circular Repowering Programmes, seeks to make current wind and hydroelectric generation facilities more energy efficient and reduce the environmental impact through technological renewal and total or partial replacement – according to the different areas – of their components. For the first time, a specific programme will in addition subsidise innovative circular economy proposals for the recycling of wind blades and other parts used in wind farms, in compliance with the provisions of the Circular Economy PERTE. The Institute for Energy Diversification and Saving (IDAE), attached to the Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge (MITECO), will be responsible for managing these grants that will be awarded on a competitive basis and will be implemented as a non-refundable grant that IDAE may advance to the beneficiary.

TECHNOLOGICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL MODERNISATION
Programme 1, Circular Repowering, is aimed at replacing all wind turbines currently existing at wind power generation facilities with more efficient ones. It has been allocated 150 million euros and it is estimated that it will enable at least 557 MW of this technology to be repowered.

Directed at mini hydroelectric plants, Programme 2 has a budget of 42.5 million euros. Its aim is the technological and environmental modernisation of installations of up to 10 MW in order to optimise their energy efficiency, and to better adapt and integrate them into the local area. The objective is to renovate 47 hydroelectric MW in this way.

Both grant programmes can include hybrid storage systems, with an estimated additional capacity of 149 MWh.

Programme 3, which has been allocated 30 million euros, will incentivise the start-up of innovative wind turbine blade recycling facilities. At least 50% of the waste (blades and/or other wind turbine components that use composite materials, which are the most difficult to handle) must be recovered and transformed into secondary raw materials that can be introduced into production processes. With this programme, a combined annual recycling capacity of 17,564 tons of blades and other compounds is expected to be achieved.

Given the incentivising nature of the grants, only projects that were not yet underway prior to submitting the application for the grant will be accepted. The projects must be completed before 15 January 2026, and they must follow the principle of “not causing the environment significant harm”.

In addition to the circular economy and requirements, facilities located in Just Transition and Demographic Challenge areas will be prioritised when evaluating the projects, as will initiatives with the greatest innovation, job creation potential, professional recycling and use of the national/European value chain.

The period for submitting applications will open on Tuesday 17 January 2023, the date scheduled for a communication and question-answering day at 12 noon for interested parties, and ending on 10 March.

More details about the call can be found on the IDAE website. 

Spain is in the top three European countries, together with Germany and Denmark, in terms of public and private investment in RD&I in wind power. Furthermore, the Spanish industrial sector is capable of providing the entire value chain associated with designing, developing, constructing and operating an onshore wind farm.

^{Source: Ministry for the Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge
Read the full announcement: MITECO launches 222.5 million euro call for wind power repowering, mini-hydro renovation and wind turbine blade recycling
Call: Circular Repowering Programmes| Idae}