PVTIME – In a major boost for the Spanish solar industry, Barcelona-based solar ingot and wafer manufacturer SUNWAFE S.L. has been named as a potential recipient of significant funding from the Spanish Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO). The funding is part of the Strategic Project for Economic Recovery and Transformation (PERTE).
The Spanish Institute for Energy Diversification and Saving (IDEA) is overseeing the distribution of the funds. SUNWAFE S.L. will receive €199.9 million from an initial pot of €297.3 million. SUNWAFE S.L. has ambitious plans to increase wafer production capacity at its Spanish factory to 20GW (2.5 billion wafers) by 2030. The company has previously received support from EIT InnoEnergy, now known as InnoEnergy.
This initiative, funded by MITECO, includes 34 projects focused on promoting domestic renewable energy equipment manufacturing in Spain. The lion’s share of the funding will go towards the production of electrolysers and other elements for green hydrogen production. There are also four energy storage projects and one heat pump project in the mix.
In addition to SUNWAFE S.L., six other solar-related projects made the cut. These include European Solar Cell Company, S.L., a PV module manufacturer, and MCPV Manufacturing Spain. MCPV recently announced that its Spanish module factory has been selected for this government support. It’s worth noting that MCPV, a subsidiary of the Resilient Group, is currently building a 4GW heterojunction (HJT) cell factory in the Netherlands.
The proposed winning projects are spread across 12 autonomous regions in Spain. MITECO has revealed that this funding plan has been fast-tracked through a simplified approval process by the European Commission. It is in line with the EU’s state aid framework designed for crisis and transition periods, particularly in light of the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the ongoing energy transition. Stay tuned as these projects unfold and reshape Spain’s renewable energy landscape.
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