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Solid biomass in Spain

General

Renewable energy projections according to the National Renewable Energy Action Plan for Spain
The new Renewable Energies Action Plan (Plan de Accion de Energias Renovables or ÒPANERÓ) for 2011-2020 designs and incorporates the new general scenarios and objectives projected by the most recent Community legislation on fostering the use of renewable energy sources.
Based on the essential elements set forth in the PANER, the 2011-2020 Plan for Renewable Energies in Spain (Plan de Energias Renovables en Espana or ÒPERÓ) was prepared with a view to defining the strategy to follow in coming years so as to be able to continue favoring the growth and development of renewable energies in Spain.
As was the case in previous Plans, the main purpose of this Plan is to bolster the priority aims of the GovernmentÕs energy policy, such as guaranteeing and securing the supply of electricity and respecting the environment, with a view to fulfilling SpainÕs commitments in this area at Community and international level. In this connection, the Plan again emphasizes the importance of renewable technologies, with estimates for 2020 of 22.7% of the gross final energy consumption and 42.3% of the gross electricity generation.
According to the available projections, one of the main measures included in the 2011-2020 PER will continue to be the grant of incentives to investments in technological innovation made by enterprises in the field of renewable energies, as well as the creation of lines of public aid.
In line with this line of support for business investments in renewable energies, the Council of Ministers approved the Action Plan 2008-2012 for the Energy Saving and Efficiency Strategy in Spain (PAE 4+) which is to strengthen SpainÕs position at the cutting edge of energy saving and efficiency.
In this context, the Institute for Energy Diversification and Saving (Instituto para la Diversificacion y Ahorro de la Energia or IDAE) has been developing a number of specific aid programs in the renewable energy industry.
In particular, the IDAE currently provides potential investors, inter alia, with the following lines:
¥    Project Finance and Lease of Services Line fundamentally aimed at investment projects in energy savings, energy efficiency and renewable energies, which have a preliminary analysis of technical/economic viability.
¥    Strategic Projects Aid Program, designed to provide incentives to companies for carrying out multi-year investment projects in energy saving and efficiency technologies.
¥    Biomcasa Program, aimed at bolstering the configuration of an energy supply based on the use of biomass, in line with the needs of potential users of hot water and air conditioning in buildings.
¥    Geotcasa Program which is to instrument a system for financing geothermic installations in buildings for authorized companies with a view, as well, to bolstering a quality offer in line with the needs of potential users of hot water and air conditioning in buildings.
¥    Solcasa Program, with the same objective as the foregoing, this program aims to set up a system of financing for solar thermal facilities in buildings for authorized companies.
¥    MOVELE Project, aimed at demonstrating electrical mobility in the urban environment, with a view to implementing at least 2,000 electric vehicles and at least 500 rechargers in various Spanish cities during the 2009-2010 period.
Meeting the objectives of the Plan for the Development of Renewable Energies also requires R&D&I initiatives, which has led to the involvement of the energy industry in the various R&D&I programs currently being implemented at EU and national level. In particular, the National Plan for R&D&I (2008-2011) includes an initiative focused on Energy and Climatic Change in the area known as ÒStrategic ActionÓ.
In turn, most Autonomous Communities also offer subsidies and public aid under their own plans and programs to support renewable energies.


Renewable heat : solid biomass

BIOMCASA programme:

Financing facility to thermal biomass installations in buildings to qualified companies.
In the framework of the Renewable Energy Plan in Spain 2005-2010, the last 20th of March was published the call to qualified companies in the BIOMCASA program for installing thermal biomass systems in buildings.
Like the programs GEOTCASA and SOLCASA, this program deals to established a system to improve the invest and financial system to promote the growth of thermal biomass installations for the users needed like comfort cooling and hot water.
According to the resolution of April 4, 2011 in the Idae published in the Official Gazette, the initial budget of the Biomcasa programme, which finances projects of biomass thermal in buildings to energy service companies has expanded by EUR 3 million. Thus, the budget for the financing of these projects will be EUR 8 million, once almost all of the 5 million endowed initially by Idae for the implementation of the pilot phase have been exhausted, that 52 facilities have been financed and there are 52 enabled companies.


Renewable electricity : solid biomass

The support framework for electricity generation using renewable energies for installations connected to the electricity system is based on a legal framework which allows for prioritisation of electrical energy from renewable energies on a stable and predictable economic framework that provides incentives for generation using these resources.
Electricity generation using renewable energies is considered Special Regime production in the terms laid down in the Electricity Sector Act, Law 54/1997. This Special Regime is based on system of direct support for production and provides for higher remuneration than under the Ordinary Regime through a regulated tariff scheme and specific premiums which are justified on the basis of environmental and supply diversification and security benefits. This scheme has proven to be highly effective in the development of electricity using renewables both in Spain and the rest of the world.

Owners of renewable installations may choose, for periods of at least one year, between two remuneration alternatives for energy delivered to the grid:
← Regulated tariff sale, different for each technology;
← Sale on the open electrical energy market. In this case, remuneration is the
price on the organised market (or freely negotiated price), supplemented by a specific premium for each renewable technology area.

Under this latter alternative, premiums vary on the basis of per-hour market prices:
Ð In the event of low market prices, the remuneration scheme guarantees a floor price meaning that the owner of a renewable installation can be assured a minimum return.
Р   The scheme also provides for a ceiling premium payment, which means that no premiums are paid when market prices are high, thus helping keep system costs at bay.
For special regime installations, the framework does not envisage limitations on the total volume of electricity generated for the purpose of premium payments.
The following tables show remuneration levels for electricity generation from renewable sources in force during 2010, broken down by renewable technology and the remuneration alternative chosen by the owner:


 

2010

Two option for electricity sales

Option a)

Option b) Sale on the organised electricity market

Group

Subgroup

Rating

Timing

Regulated tariff cÛ/kWh

Reference premium cÛ/kWh

Ceiling cÛ/kWh

Floor cÛ/kWh

b.6 (biomass)

b.6.1 (energy crops)

P¥ 2MW

first 25 yrs

16.8096

12.6732

17.5936

16.3029

thereafter

12.4764

 

 

 

2MW<P

first 25 yrs

15.5084

11.1562

15.9643

15.0968

thereafter

13.0624

 

 

 

b.6.2 (agricultural or garden waste)

P¥ 2MW

first 25 yrs

13.2994

9.162

14.0812

14.0812

thereafter

8.9663

 

 

 

2MW<P

first 25 yrs

11.3771

7.0249

11.8384

10.9804

thereafter

8.5334

 

 

 

b.6.3 (forestry waste)

P¥ 2MW

first 25 yrs

13.2994

9.162

14.0812

12.7905

thereafter

8.9663

 

 

 

2MW<P

first 25 yrs

12.5148

8.1633

12.9704

12.1028

thereafter

8.5334

 

 

 

b.8 (biomass from industrial installations)

b.8.1 (biomass from agricultural installations)

P¥ 2MW

first 25 yrs

13.2994

9.162

14.0812

12.7905

thereafter

8.9663

 

 

 

2MW<P

first 25 yrs

11.3771

7.0249

11.8394

10.9804

thereafter

8.5334

 

 

 

b.8.2 (biomass from forestry installations)

P¥ 2MW

first 25 yrs

9.8177

5.6814

10.6006

9.2993

thereafter

6.8872

 

 

 

2MW<P

first 25 yrs

6.8851

2.5329

7.3421

6.4746

thereafter

6.8851

 

 

 

b.8.3 (biomass from black liquor

installations)

P¥ 2MW

 

first 25 yrs

9.8177

5.9439

10.6006

9.2993

thereafter

6.8872

 

 

 

2MW<P

first 25 yrs

8.4635

3.8813

9.5215

7.9346

thereafter

6.8851

 

 

 

 



Future programme changes expected




Sources

SPAIN'S NATIONAL RENEWABLE ENERGY ACTION PLAN 2011-2020  (30 June 2010)
Informes técnicos IDAE programa BIOMCASA

IDAE website: http://www.idae.es/index.php/id.670/relmenu.303/mod.pags/mem.detalle

Directive 2009/28/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources, http://ec.europa.eu/energy/renewables/transparency_platform_en.htm

The National Renewable Energy Action Plans (NREAPs) are all published on the Transparency Platform on Renewable Energy: http://ec.europa.eu/energy/renewables/transparency_platform/action_plan_en.htm (sourced July - December 2010)


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Last update: January 2012

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