The Basque Country launches a new program to promote energy efficiency.

The Basque government will allocate 90 million euros to promote energy efficiency projects in its municipal network

The year is starting and Euskadi does so with a program to promote energy efficiency, the installation of renewable energy and sustainable mobility aimed at different local entities such as town councils, associations of municipalities, administrative boards, municipal public companies, foundations and consortiums. The Basque Energy Agency (EVE) will be the public agent in charge of administering the 90 million euros allocated to this program, framed within the Energy Sustainability Law, which is based on repayable advances of 70% of the total cost of the projects at zero interest and which will be in force until its budget is exhausted.

Thus, the aid will go to areas such as promoting energy efficiency, exterior lighting, efficiency in buildings, the thermal envelope or the installation of renewable energies. On this last point, regarding the installation of green energy, the EVE reports that it will promote the deployment of small electricity generation facilities such as photovoltaic, wind, or mini-hydroelectric plants, as well as thermal production facilities such as biomass, heat pumps, aerothermal energy, or geothermal energy.

How the Program Works

The program, which will review the different applications in the order in which they are submitted, will prioritize this type of project in local entities with fewer than 5,000 inhabitants. These municipalities could achieve a 30% increase in the repayable advances on the cost of the submitted project, the reimbursement of which is set as standard at 70% of the total cost for all towns with more than 20,000 inhabitants. In towns with populations between 5,000 and 20,000, the increase over the standard reimbursement would reach 20%.

The general limits for these grants are set at a maximum repayable amount of €1 million per project, with a maximum of €10 million per beneficiary, and a minimum investment of €50,000. A budget of €10 million has previously been allocated for the preparation of the various studies and prior energy audits required to plan the projects in question.