Spain unveils €90 million funding for 7 GWh of innovative pumped hydro energy storage projects

The Spanish Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO) has approved the second call for grants for innovative pumped hydro energy storage projects, with a total budget of €90 million ($105 million) under the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR). This scheme is expected to back nearly 1 GW of projects which will provide around 7 GWh of additional storage capacity to the grid.

The announcement, issued on January 2, follows the first call under the BORALMAC programmein in September 2023, which attracted strong interest and awarded €100 million in support for four projects totaling over 2 GW of new pumped storage capacity.

It also comes only days after MITECO selected 126 storage projects to receive a total of €818.3 million in funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF 2021–2027), primarily for co-located energy storage projects, with standalone batteries receiving the next largest share. In total, these projects will add 2.2 GW of power output and 9.4 GWh of storage capacity.

Under the new call, grants will support: new reversible hydroelectric plants, expansion or modification of existing facilities, conversion of conventional plants into pumped storage facilities, and use of existing reservoirs to increase orenhance storage capacity.

The maximum grant per project or entity is €50 million, and projects must be fully completed by June 30, 2035.

The programme will be managed by the Institute for Energy Diversification and Saving (IDAE) and selected through a competitive process. In addition to economic viability, projects will be evaluated on: technical potential to integrate renewables, employment creation, contribution to demographic and territorial balance, environmental impacts. gender equity, SME participation and level of innovation.

According to the Ministry, the aid aims to strengthen Spain’s electrical infrastructure, support the objectives of the National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan (PNIEC) and the Energy Storage Strategy, and accelerate renewable integration by providing grid stability and flexibility.

Applications will be accepted from 12:00 PM on February 4 to 2:00 PM on March 3.