The provisional resolution proposal includes 80 initiatives for the replacement and modernization of wind turbines and 69 for the technological and environmental renewal of hydroelectric facilities of up to 50 MW, which mobilize new investments of 3.7 billion
65% of the provisionally selected projects include hybrid storage, totaling 2 GWh of capacity and 3.3 GW of generation power.
The actions must be carried out before the end of 2030.
The Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO), through the Institute for Energy Diversification and Saving (IDAE), has published the preliminary list of 149 projects selected in the second call for proposals of the CIRCULAR REPOTENCY program (REPOTEN 2), which provides funding for the modernization of older wind farms and hydroelectric plants up to 50 MW. The provisional resolution includes 80 wind turbine modernization projects and 69 projects for the technological and environmental upgrade of hydroelectric plants up to 50 MW, which would be distributed across almost the entire country. It can be consulted here .
Endowed with 512 million euros of NextGenEU funds from the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR), with a budget increase of 75% to meet the high demand, this second edition reinforces the technological adaptation promoted by the first call, in which 186 million were already awarded.
In this way, greater energy efficiency is guaranteed with a reduction in the number of wind turbines and with the ability to operate in "grid forming" mode, both in the Spanish wind farm, as well as in a significant number of small hydroelectric power plants.
The list published by IDAE, manager of the REPOTEN 2 program, highlights the wide territorial distribution of the projects, which are spread across all autonomous communities except the Balearic Islands.
Of particular note are the 35 projects in Galicia – 25 in wind farms and 10 in hydroelectric power plants – followed by the 24 projects in Andalusia (18+6) and in Castile and León (8+16).
STORAGE AND GENERATION
Most of the projects selected in this phase are wind farm repowering projects – Program 1, with a budget of €462 million – and a third of the hydroelectric modernization projects – Program 2, with €50 million – incorporate hybrid storage. In total, these projects add 2 GWh of new storage capacity and an additional 3.3 GW of generation capacity, representing a combined investment of over €3.7 billion.
Given the provisional nature of the proposed resolution, after the mandatory period for allegations, the files that are selected as beneficiaries may change in the final resolution, as well as the grouped results.
The call is developed under a competitive concurrence system, so that, for the allocation of aid to the files, criteria are weighted on: reduction of the aid requested, administrative viability, degree of innovation in the support of the electricity system, location in areas of Just Transition and Demographic Challenge, as well as resilience criteria that result in the strengthening of the national and European value chain.
The initiatives that are selected must be completed before June 30, 2030, with the possibility of extension until December 31, 2030, as established in the recent Ministerial Order of the MITECO that adapts the regulatory bases of several PRTR incentive programs in accordance with the criteria of the aid scheme defined by the European Commission.
NEW RENEWAL PLAN
The technological leap represented by this new RENOVE plan will result in greater utilization of renewable resources at existing sites by replacing obsolete or outdated systems with new, state-of-the-art equipment. This will allow the systems and equipment to be more productive and incorporate innovations for mitigating environmental impacts; they will also have a greater capacity to provide balancing and support services to the electrical grid. Furthermore, the upgraded facilities will consolidate and generate economic activity in rural areas.
In the case of wind power technology, repowering also reduces the visual impact and the area occupied by replacing a large number of old, small wind turbines with fewer, larger ones. In the projects subsidized in the first call for proposals, whether already operational or still under development, each new, larger, and more powerful wind turbine replaces approximately seven older machines.
Similarly, the modernization of hydroelectric generation equipment and infrastructure, along with the incorporation of automation systems, boosts energy efficiency and allows for environmental improvements. These include new fish passes to facilitate the migration of aquatic species, ensure minimum ecological flows and sediment transport, promote territorial integration, and protect and restore specific habitats.