The Andalusian Energy Agency manages this program with 21.8 million for air conditioning projects and other thermal needs with solar thermal, geothermal, biomass, aerothermal and hydrothermal.

The window is now open so that the agricultural, service, industrial, residential sectors that carry out economic activity and the public sector can request an incentive from the new aid program endowed with 21.8 million euros from Next Generation European funds for projects of air conditioning and other thermal needs with renewable energies.

Managed by the Andalusian Energy Agency, it will support the use of solar thermal, geothermal, biomass, aerothermal and hydrothermal energy through two programs. Program 1, which will initially account for 80% of the budget, is open to the industrial, agricultural, services and other sectors of the economy, including the residential sector that carries out economic activity such as entities that rent homes or energy service companies that carry carry out projects in homes or communities of owners, for example. Depending on whether it is a large, medium or small company, the basic aid will range between 35% and 45% of the eligible costs.

Program 2, with 20% of the allocated funds, is intended for buildings for non-residential use, establishments and infrastructures of the public sector that does not carry out economic activity offering goods and/or services on the market, with the intensity of the aid from the 70%.

If the actions of the two programs are carried out in municipalities with a demographic challenge of up to 5,000 inhabitants and non-urban municipalities of up to 20,000 inhabitants with population centers of less than 5,000, an additional 5% of aid will be added to the previous percentages. The list of municipalities is on the website of the Andalusian Energy Agency.

What is encouraged

All productive sectors can carry out actions to implement new renewable facilities for the production of cold and/or heat in buildings: domestic hot water, heating, cooling or air conditioning, for example, swimming pools, either directly or through district microgrids of heat and/or cold (only the first MW will be incentivized, although the installations may be of greater power), taking into account that the equipment used for air conditioning must comply with the eco-design and energy labeling directives.

In industrial processes, facilities whose production of thermal energy is applied in cleaning, drying, thermal baths for surface treatment, supply of laundry services, vehicle washing, pasteurization and conservation of perishable products, air conditioning of warehouses for industrial use, livestock are encouraged. and greenhouses, low, medium and high temperature thermal applications in oil mills, extractors and oil refineries, etc.

The eligible costs include, among others, the investment in equipment and materials, the costs of executing the works or the active control and monitoring systems, both for the production and the demand for thermal energy from consumer installations supplied by the project object of the aid, as well as the civil works necessary for the execution of the actions, which must be completed within 18 months from the date of notification of the resolution of the concession of incentive.

Applications for aid will be dealt with in strict order of presentation and, in Andalusia, you can opt for electronic submission directly by the beneficiaries or through one of the member companies that will represent them in said processing and whose list can be consulted on the website of the entity.

For Program 1, the aid amounts will be subject to the limitations established by European State aid regulations (in no case may aid to the same company and project exceed 15 million euros) and the actions must begin after to the date of registration of the request for aid. For Program 2, after December 22, 2021.

The incentive program for the implementation of thermal renewable energy facilities in different sectors of the economy is included in the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (Royal Decree 1124/2021, of December 21, modified by Royal Decree 377/2022 of May 17). The period for submitting applications will remain open until December 31, 2023 or until the exhaustion of funds.