- The objective is to contribute to the improvement of the electrification of services by modernising the old electrical installations of the neighbouring communities, so that they can support increasing demands for electricity, for example, by the use of renewable heating by aerothermia and electric vehicles.
- They are expected to contribute to the implementation of some 200 projects.
From tomorrow, the Basque Energy Agency will launch new aid for the improvement of the internal electricity grid connected to the distribution network of residential housing communities, with the aim of modernising and advancing the decarbonisation of new electrical services such as heating by aerothermia, vehicle load and renewable solar production.
The aid will start with a budget of EUR 1 million and, with that money, around 200 renewals of Community power plants will be protected. It is estimated that this aid will promote investments totalling EUR 2.8 million in supported projects.
Both the European institutions and the Energy Strategy of the Basque Country 2030 are based on the decarbonisation of the economy through the electrification of sectors as well as the transfer of services that until now were obtained through other energy to electricity consumption and the progressive abolition of the use of fossil fuels. In this sense, the residential sector plays a relevant role because decarbonisation of this sector requires the introduction of new electrical consumption, for example, by means of aerothermia in heating systems or the loading of electric vehicles in garages. In addition, the production of renewable energy by solar panels in these buildings requires a grid capable of absorbing this new electricity production.
Taking into account all planned developments in electrification, it has been found that the internal distribution network of several homeowners communities is unstable because of their age and unwilling to carry so much energy. Specifically, 23 per cent of the housing communities in the Basque Country have old facilities, equipped with a system of 125/220 volts (B1 connection), but currently 230/400 volts (B2 connection) are needed to have sufficient capacity to meet the growing electricity demand of their neighbours. In Álava, 15% of the autonomous communities have unstable electrical installations, 28% in Bizkaia and 18% in Gipuzkoa.
This new line of protection aims to address these deficiencies in buildings built before 1999 and whose renovation has been carried out and justified by 31 December 2024 at the latest. The granting of such aid shall be incompatible with obtaining any other type of subsidy or aid for the same purpose.
