On June 29, 2021, the Council of Ministers, at the proposal of the Ministry of Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, approved the following decree Royal Decree 477/2021 approving the direct granting to the autonomous communities and the cities of Ceuta and Melilla of aid for the implementation of various incentive programs linked to self-consumption and storage, with renewable energy sources, as well as the implementation of renewable thermal systems in the residential sector, within the framework of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan.

In order to promote the deployment of renewable energies, both thermal and electrical, in the different consumer sectors, encourage greater control of consumption through the development of behind-the-meter storage systems and the promotion of industry and the associated business sector, this Royal Decree is promoted, which aims to establish the regulatory bases for the direct granting of aid to the autonomous communities and the cities of Ceuta and Melilla, as well as the approval of the six incentive programs for self-consumption, storage and thermal uses of renewable energies indicated below:

• Incentive Program 1: Implementation of self-consumption facilities, with renewable energy sources, in the service sector, with or without storage.

• Incentive Program 2: Implementation of self-consumption facilities, with renewable energy sources, in other productive sectors of the economy, with or without storage.

• Incentive Program 3: Incorporation of storage in self-consumption facilities, with renewable energy sources, already existing in the service sector and other productive sectors.

• Incentive Program 4: Implementation of self-consumption facilities, with renewable energy sources, in the residential sector, public administrations and the third sector, with or without storage.

• Incentive Program 5: Incorporation of storage in self-consumption facilities, with renewable energy sources, already existing in the residential sector, public administrations and the third sector.

• Incentive Program 6: Implementation of thermal renewable energy installations in the residential sector.

The aid programs approved by RD 477/2021 will be in force until December 31, 2023, and are endowed with an initial joint amount of 660 million euros distributed among the different Autonomous Communities and Cities and the different lines of aid, which will be financed with funds from the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism.

The Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, through the IDAE, will coordinate and monitor the aid, managed by the Autonomous Communities and Cities, which are the direct beneficiaries of the aid.

Applications for aid may be submitted from the time and in the manner established by the Autonomous Communities and Cities in their respective calls for applications, which must be made within a maximum period of three months from the entry into force of RD 477/2021.

660 million from the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism.

The budget, however, may be increased, in its entirety or for each category, as the case may be, if there is budgetary availability for the same purpose, and provided that the term of validity of the same has not expired, both with funds from the General State Budget and from other sources, provided that they have been transferred to the IDAE and incorporated into its own assets.

Grants are awarded on a first-come, first-served basis.

This means that applications will be considered on a first-come, first-served basis until funds are exhausted.

Applications may be submitted in the Autonomous Communities and Cities of Ceuta and Melilla, from the date established in their respective calls for applications until December 31, 2023.

The regulatory bases of this Program will be governed by Royal Decree 477/2021, dated June 29thwhich approves the direct granting to the autonomous communities and the cities of Ceuta and Melilla of aid for the execution of various incentive programs linked to self-consumption and storage, with renewable energy sources, as well as the implementation of renewable thermal systems in the residential sector, within the framework of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan.

The ultimate recipients of the aid established in this Royal Decree may be:

Within incentive programs 1, 2 and 3

• Legal entities and groupings of companies or natural persons, with or without legal personality, that carry out an economic activity by which they offer goods or services in the market, including:

1. Managers of industrial parks, whether public or private.
2. Companies that operate, lease or hold concessions in the energy sector.
3. Energy service companies (ESCOs), or energy service providers as defined in Royal Decree 56/2016.

• Renewable energy communities and citizen energy communities, as defined in Directive 2018/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2018.

• Energy service companies or other companies that carry out actions in establishments in the sectors included in each program, provided that the energy service generated by the action is carried out for a company whose CNAE is included.

Within incentive programs 4 and 5

Individuals who do not carry out any economic activity by which they offer goods and/or services in the market.

Local entities and the institutional public sector of any Public Administrations referred to in Article 2.2 of Law 40/2015 of October 1, on the Legal Regime of the Public Sector, the latter provided that it does not carry out
any economic activity by which they offer goods and/or services in the market. Otherwise, they will be considered included in incentive programs 2 or 3.

Legal entities that do not carry out any economic activity by which they offer goods and/or services in the market, including third sector entities or organizations. In case of performing any economic activity by which they offer goods and/or services in the market, they will be considered included in incentive programs 2 or 3.

Individuals who carry out any economic activity by which they offer goods and/or services in the market.

Communities of owners, regulated by Law 49/1960, of July 21, 1960, on horizontal property.

Renewable energy communities and citizen energy communities, as defined in Directive 2018/2001, of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2018, when they do not perform any economic activity by which they offer goods and/or services
on the market. Otherwise, they will be considered included in incentive programs 1, 2 or 3, depending on the area in which they carry out their activity.

Within the incentive program 6

Individuals who do not carry out any economic activity by which they offer goods and/or services in the market.

Public or private non-profit entities or organizations, or legal entities that do not carry out any economic activity by which they offer goods and/or services in the market, which accredit the provision of social housing for vulnerable groups.

Individuals who carry out any economic activity by which they offer goods and/or services in the market.

Communities of owners, regulated by Law 49/1960, of July 21, 1960, on horizontal property.

Local entities and the institutional public sector of any Public Administrations referred to in Article 2.2 of Law 40/2015 of October 1, on the Legal Regime of the Public Sector, when the existence of state aid can be excluded.

In all incentive programs

City councils, provincial councils or equivalent entities and associations or groups of Spanish municipalities, island councils and councils, and any public bodies and public law entities linked to or dependent on both the corresponding local and autonomous administration, which may act on behalf of groups of individuals or legal entities, public or private, owners of facilities in the service sector or other productive sectors that, although lacking legal personality, may carry out the execution of the corresponding actions of self-consumption with renewable energy sources.

The renewable generation actions eligible for subsidies under incentive programs 1, 2 and 4 include photovoltaic and wind power actions for self-consumption, understanding self-consumption facilities as those established in Royal Decree 244/2019, of April 5, which regulates the administrative, technical and economic conditions for self-consumption of electricity.

Incentive programs 1, 2 and 4 provide for new generation facilities, which may be associated with storage facilities, to be eligible for subsidies.

Incentive programs 3 and 5 establish as eligible actions the incorporation of storage facilities in existing renewable self-consumption facilities.

Eligible actions under incentive program 6 include solar thermal, biomass, geothermal, hydrothermal, hydrothermal or aerothermal technologies (except air-to-air technologies) for air conditioning and/or domestic hot water in homes.

For the purposes of this Royal Decree, off-grid installations not regulated in Royal Decree 244/2019, of April 5, carried out in the sectors of application of each of them are also considered eligible actions within incentive programs 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.

The amount of the aid to be granted will be the sum of the Basic Aid and the Additional Aid that may correspond in each case.

For incentive programs 1, 2 and 3, grants will be calculated as a percentage of total eligible costs. For incentive programs 4, 5 and 6, support will be granted as fixed unit amounts or “modules” that will partially cover eligible costs.

The maximum unit eligible costs and aid intensities or modules to be applied in each of the programs are as follows:

Incentive programs 1 and 2

• Self-consumption photovoltaic installation: 460 – 1.188 €/kWp (15 – 45 % aid on eligible cost)
• Self-consumption wind power installation: 1,070 – 4,723 €/kW (20 – 50 % aid on eligible cost)
• Incorporation of self-consumption storage: 200 – 700 €/kWh (45 – 65 % aid on eligible cost)

Incentive programs 3

• Incorporation of self-consumption storage in existing installations: 200 – 700 €/kWh (45 – 65 % aid on eligible cost)

Incentive programs 4

Residential sector

• Self-consumption photovoltaic installation: 300 – 600 €/kWp
• Self-consumption wind power installation: 650 – 2,900 €/Kw
• Incorporation of self-consumption storage: 140 – 490 €/kWh

Public administrations and third sector

• Self-consumption photovoltaic installation: 500 – 1,000 €/kWp
• Self-consumption wind power installation: 1,150 – 4,100 €/kW
• Incorporation of self-consumption storage: 140 – 490 €/kWh

Incentive programs 5

• Incorporation of self-consumption storage in existing installations: 140 – 490 €/kWh

Incentive programs 6

Residential sector

• Aerothermal installations: 500 €/kW (3,000 €/house)
• Solar Thermal Installation: 450 – 900 €/kW (550 – 1.800 €/house)
• Biomass: 250 €/kW (2,500 – 3,000 €/house)
• Geothermal or hydrothermal installations: 1,600 – 2,250 €/kW (9,000 – 13,500 €/dwelling)

Publicly owned housing and third sector

• Aerothermal installations: 650 €/kW (3,900 €/house)
• Solar Thermal Installation: 650 – 950 €/kW (820 – 1.850 €/house)
• Biomass: 350 €/kW (3,500 – 4,200 €/house)
• Geothermal or hydrothermal installations: 1,700 – 2,250 €/kW (9,550 – 13,500 €/house)

The aids of the incentive programs approved by this Royal Decree will be incompatible with other subsidies or aids that may be granted for the same purpose, from any national, European Union or international administrations or public or private entities.

RD 477/2021 establishes additional aid for demographic challenges for municipalities with up to 5,000 inhabitants and non-urban municipalities with up to 20,000 inhabitants in which all of their singular population entities have up to 5,000 inhabitants.

It is provided, for information purposes, list (in Excel format) of the demographic challenge municipalities where investments eligible for additional aid may be made, in accordance with section A4 of Annex III. This list is expressly subject to the publications of the INE and the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda, as official sources for the determination of the number of inhabitants and the “non-urban” nature of the demographic challenge municipalities.

New municipalities that may meet these demographic challenge requirements may be added, if applicable, following revisions and updates that may be published in both official sources at a later date and while the aid program remains in force under the terms of Article 4 of the aforementioned bases.

You can access more content and information on the demographic challenge on the website of the General Secretariat for the Demographic Challenge by following this link link