The aids for the improvement of energy efficiency managed by the Ministry of Ecological Transition, Industry and Economic Development have mobilized investments of over 400 million since 2019. The data was revealed this morning by the Minister Nieves Roqueñí during the inauguration of a conference on the new system of Energy Saving Certificates (CAEs) organized in Gijón/Xixón by the Association of Energy Efficiency Companies (A3E).
Roqueñí explained that energy efficiency has been one of the pillars on which the Just Energy Transition Strategy has pivoted to promote the decarbonization of the regional economy, particularly industry. In fact, this line for SMEs and large industrial companies, launched by the IDAE in 2019, has gone from an initial budget of 4.7 million to 72 million, a figure that places this program as the most important of all those managed by the Directorate General of Energy and Mining and the most successful.
Through this line of support, corporate investments for more than 400 MILLION have been mobilized, among which are the new electric furnace of ArcelorMittal and its heat recovery systems, with 36.4 MILLION in aid. Also have been supported projects led by ENCE, Bayer, GAM, AZSA, Industrias Doy Manuel Morate, PMG Asturias Powder Metal, Daniel Alonso, Nippon Gases, Samoa Industrial, Prefabricados Nava, Sontara Asturias and Canteras El Naval, among other companies.
“It is a line that has had a strong impact on companies and has allowed us to firmly address the paradigm shift from an economy based on fossil fuels to an emission-neutral model,” said the Minister.
These aids have been complemented with those financed by the regional budget, which since the last legislature have mobilized investments amounting to 31.8 million, with a contribution of 6.55 million in subsidies. This program has provided incentives for the use of biomass as a fuel for thermal energy production, through the replacement of boilers; the production of electric energy by means of mini-hydraulic turbines or wind turbines, the use of biogas energy and the installation of refueling stations for alternative fuels accessible to the public.
“The change of economic model is not easy and requires many resources; but we are convinced that the energy transition is an opportunity,” said the minister. She also recalled other items managed by her ministry, such as the 152 million of the Plan for Recovery, Transformation and Resilience in sustainable mobility, self-consumption, thermal renewables and mining restorations in municipalities in just transition, or the 210 million of the Just Transition Fund (FTJ) to promote the value chain of manufacturing equipment and components for an emission-neutral economy, the production of renewable energies and gases, and energy efficiency.
