The Basque Government will mobilize 120 million in aid for “Eguzki Hotz”, a pioneering sustainable air conditioning program in Europe

• The Lehendakari, Imanol Pradales, announced the new initiative during the General Policy Plenary held in the Basque Parliament.
• Within the package of measures for climate change of 340 million euros, the Basque Government will launch an aid program of 120 million euros for the implementation of sustainable air conditioning systems open to all Basque citizens.
• The objective of the program is to adapt the Basque Country to climate change and defend the citizens from heat waves with aids for sustainable air conditioning.
• The initiative will be a pioneer in Europe by linking climate aid with its own generation of renewable energy through formulas such as self-consumption.
• The name of the program is “Eguzki Hotz” and it responds to the concept of “the sun that cools”, in reference to the solar energy that creates air conditioning.
• The programme will be launched at the end of October and will target households, health and education centres, industry, the service sector and businesses.

The Basque Government will mobilize 120 million euros to promote the implementation of sustainable air conditioning systems in the Basque Country.

This program, announced by the Lehendakari, Imanol Pradales, during the General Policy Plenary held on Thursday in the Basque Parliament, is part of the 340 million euro climate change package that will be developed in the Basque Country over the next two years.

The “Eguzki Hotz” program, which responds to the concept of “the sun that cools”, in reference to the solar energy that creates air conditioning, will be launched at the end of October and will be aimed at all Basque citizens. Support will be available to households, health and education establishments, industries, service companies and businesses.

Its objective is to facilitate the installation of more efficient and sustainable air conditioning systems, capable of improving temperature and well-being in homes, public centers and workplaces in the face of the most frequent heat waves.

The initiative responds to the need to adapt to climate change in the Basque Country: it is necessary to start preparing buildings in the Basque Country in the face of high temperatures without increasing energy dependence and our electricity bill.

A pioneering program in Europe

The new programme introduces a pioneering approach in Europe: HVAC support will generally be conditional on new equipment being linked to its own source of renewable electricity generation.

Thus, the electricity needed to cool or air-condition a building must come from a self-consumption installation, a citizen energy community or a renewable energy community.

The aim is clear: that renewable generation and air conditioning go hand in hand. The electricity produced in the building itself or in its surroundings will be able to power the equipment and contribute to reducing both the consumption of the grid and the energy bill.

This model will allow its own renewable generation to increase as demand for air conditioning increases. The energy produced during the hours of greatest solar radiation can be used to cool buildings, reducing both grid consumption and the energy bill.

This will combine three strategic objectives: protecting people’s well-being, advancing climate change adaptation and improving our energy autonomy.

The programme will have a broad scope and will be open to the different sectors of Basque society and economy.

The initiative will give continuity to the self-consumption aid program of the Basque Government, managed by the EnteVasco de la Energía, which comes to an end after having exceeded the planned objectives.

Since its launch in May 2025, the programme has received 5,670 applications for solar photovoltaic installations. The aid granted so far represents 88.43 MW of new self-consumption power and has contributed to a 53.2% increase in installed capacity in the Basque Country. The industry accounts for more than half of the new power, although progress has also been extended to housing, service companies and public administrations.

These results reflect that self-consumption has ceased to be a minority alternative to become an increasingly present option in households and companies. The new programme will take advantage of this experience to go one step further: using renewable energy produced locally to also cover part of the air conditioning needs.