The European Commission has approved, under EU State aid rules, a €350 million Spanish scheme, made available through the Recovery and Resilience Facility (‘RRF'), to support the construction and operation of electricity storage facilities. The measure contributes to achievement of the European Green Deal targets, while helping to reduce dependence on Russian fossil fuels and fast forward the green transition in line with the REPowerEU Plan.

The scheme notified by Spain, with an estimated budget of up to €350 million, will be fully funded through the RRF following the Commission's positive assessment of the Spanish Recovery and Resilience Plan and its adoption by the Council.

The scheme, which will run until June 2026, aims to: (i) increase the share of renewable energy sources in the Spanish electricity system; (ii) decrease the deliberate reduction in renewable electricity generation at times of overproduction; and (iii) support the secure operation of the Spanish electricity system.

Under the scheme, the aid will take the form of investment grants for the construction of electricity storage facilities, with a joint capacity of approximately 1000 MW connected to the transmission or distribution network. The maximum amount of aid per beneficiary will be €50 million.

The projects will be selected through transparent and non-discriminatory bidding processes. The award of the contracts to the selected projects should take place before the end of 2024. The storage facilities should enter operation by the end of 2026 (except for pumped hydro storage, which may enter operation by the end of 2030).