Spain to Invest €6.9 B in Renewables, Green H2, Energy Storage

Spain will allocate 6.9 billion euros ($7.8 billion) to renewables, green hydrogen and energy storage in the next two years and aims to attract another 9.45 billion euros in private funding under its COVID-19 recovery plan, the government said on Tuesday.

Speaking after a weekly cabinet meeting where the 16.3 billion euro energy plan was approved, Energy and Environment Minister Teresa Ribera said the investments should create more than 280,000 jobs.

“We believe it is possible to create a very important package of instruments that we want to start presenting as early as next week,” she said.

Some 1.55 billion euros of the state funding will be channelled into the development of so-called green hydrogen.

With its sunny plains, windy hillsides and gas infrastructure, Spain is keen to lead production of hydrogen using renewable resources, a process seen as key to meeting carbon emissions targets provided costs can be brought down.

Hydrogen, which is now mostly produced from fossil fuels, can be made from water using electrolysis but the process is expensive and only avoids emissions if renewable power is used.

Madrid aims to have a capacity of around 4 gigawatts by 2030, which would account for 10% of the European Union’s target output.

Other investments will be focused on rolling out smart-grid infrastructure, energy storage, training and research, the minister said.

Her ministry said in a statement that the programme should add some 12.3 billion euros to economic output.