Ribera detailed to the territorial representatives the strategic lines of its Department for the new Legislature. In addition, the two meetings allowed strengthening the institutional collaboration pathways between the Ministry and the autonomies to continue advancing in the decarbonization of the Spanish economy, a more efficient management of natural resources and a healthier environment that allows, in turn, an improvement in the quality of life of citizens.
Attendees addressed common issues of the environmental and climate agenda, the inclusive energy transition and the comprehensive response to the demographic challenge. At this point, the vice president announced that she will ask the regional and Ceuta and Melilla presidents to designate representatives with competences linked to this new competence of the Vice Presidency to expand the existing cooperation on the matter, which for the first time has an administrative structure within of the central government.
Teresa Ribera announced the creation of a technical working group between the Autonomous Communities and the Ministry that will act as a permanent and formal channel of cooperation and coordination in the field of renewable energy development and energy efficiency.
Priorities of the legislature
Ribera detailed to the regional representatives the priorities that the Executive has set, reflected in the Climate Emergency Declaration agreed by the Council of Ministers on January 21. Thus, he shared the content of the draft Law on Climate Change and Energy Transition, which the Government will send to Congress in the coming weeks; final approval and referral to the European Commission of National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan (PNIEC). It also advanced information on the progress of the work of the Long Term Strategy that will define the path ordered towards the decarbonization of our country, to achieve climate neutrality in 2050 on the basis of a 100% renewable electrical system and a system agrarian neutral in CO2 equivalent.
In environmental matters, both the Autonomous Communities and the central Government highlighted the need to strengthen coordination in the process of preparing the III cycle of the National Hydrological Plan. Progress was also made in developing a 'country position' for the 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, which will be held next October and in which it is expected to approve the new global framework for biodiversity.
He also realized the work to complete the Circular Economy Strategy, which seeks to implement a sustainable management model of our resources and minimize the generation of waste. In this sense, Ribera presented to the territories the draft bill for contaminated waste and soil, which already has a first draft.
Among the issues that were addressed in the energy field, consumer protection was highlighted, with a special focus on reducing and mitigating energy poverty, but also improving the information available to the citizen and promoting their active participation in the sector energy through figures such as self-consumption and aggregation.
Another key issue of the meeting was the promotion of renewable energy, which, among other elements, will be articulated through a new auction mechanism that allows consumers to transfer savings in the energy bill.
The improvement of administrative processing and proper management of access to the electricity grid, the incorporation of key sectors – such as financial or construction – to the energy transition, and the mobilization of energy were also put on the table. public and private resources necessary for the transformation.
300 million to energy rehabilitation
In the chapter on resource mobilization, the Ministry reported the next call for aid, endowed with 300 million euros, for energy rehabilitation. Co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER), the purpose of this call will be the integral improvement of complete buildings, blocks or integral actions in neighborhoods by improving the energy efficiency of the thermal envelope (insulation), of the thermal installations (boilers, solar thermal installations ) or lighting.
The management of the funds will correspond to the Autonomous Communities and autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla, in coordination with the Institute for Diversification and Energy Saving (IDAE). As an objective distribution criterion, the last available census of the National Statistics Institute of first homes in each territory is considered as a reference.
After passing through the sectoral conference, the processing of the norm will be initiated, which will be finally approved by the Council of Ministers, by royal decree. Once published, the Autonomous Communities and cities of Ceuta and Melilla will have three months to make the corresponding calls, which may be open until December 31, 2020.
New edition of MOVES, support for sustainable mobility
The IIº has also been treated Efficient and Sustainable Mobility Incentives Program (MOVES II), with an allocation of 65 million euros, 40% more than in its first edition convened last year.
As in the first call, the aid will go to the purchase of alternative energy vehicles, installation of electric vehicle charging infrastructure, implementation of electric bicycle lending systems and implementation of measures of transport plans to work In companies. The distribution criteria used in the previous edition, based on the population census of each territory, is also in force.
MOVES II self-employed professionals, natural and legal persons, homeowners' communities and the public sector can apply for aid. Its management, as in the previous edition, will correspond to the Autonomous Communities in coordination with the IDAE.
In the Sectorial Conference the future calls for renewable thermal and electrical energy co-financed with ERDF funds have also been addressed and that the IDAE will design together with the territories to adjust them to the needs of each zone. The Institute, under MITECO, plans to mobilize more than 300 million for this line of aid, which will be convened by betting on unique projects and innovation momentum that marks the National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan (PNIEC) 2021-2030.
Similarly, the next help lines for energy efficiency actions aimed at small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and the large industrial sector company have been analyzed.
A new call for the Singular MOVES program has also been announced, aimed at supporting innovative initiatives for integrated mobility management in urban and metropolitan areas, and to launch experimental developments related to electric vehicles. In the meeting with the Autonomies, he has realized the preliminary results of the first edition, which has received a total of 130 applications that exceed four times the budget allocated in this call, 15 million euros. Given the success of this first edition, a second one will be held this year.
