The PORT-EOLMAR program strengthens logistics capabilities and the value chain for the manufacturing and assembly of large-scale equipment. Actions must be linked to projects with investments that equal or exceed the aid, to provide solutions to the marine renewable energy value chain and strengthen national and European autonomy.
The Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO) has released for public hearing the draft Order establishing the regulatory bases for granting aid to projects for the physical adaptation of state-owned port infrastructure for wind and other marine renewable energy, as well as the draft Resolution for the publication of the call for these aid applications, both available here .
The PORT-EOLMAR program, part of the Recovery, Transformation, and Resilience Plan (PRTR), will allocate more than €160 million to strengthen the country’s logistics and port infrastructure capabilities for the manufacturing, assembly, and maintenance of offshore wind farms and marine energy devices. Beneficiary projects must be linked to private investment commitments for their operation, with the aim of strengthening Spanish and European strategic autonomy in the marine renewable energy value chain and boosting leadership in renewables.
The Institute for Energy Diversification and Savings (IDAE), a body dependent on MITECO, will be responsible for managing these grants. These grants will be awarded on a competitive basis and will be implemented as definitive subsidies once the project’s execution has been verified, the eligible costs incurred have been accredited, and the investment commitments for the associated industrial projects have been confirmed.
The program will finance unique projects in strategic locations that significantly improve the logistical capabilities of port infrastructure through the construction or adaptation of docks and/or operating areas in their rear areas, as well as the general services associated with their implementation. These investments may only be made in Zone I of the Ports of General Interest throughout the country, corresponding to sheltered waters.
Logistics bases
The objective is for these projects to serve as a logistics base during the construction, assembly, commissioning, repair, and maintenance phases of future offshore wind farms and other components of marine renewable energy, creating areas of sufficient size for the operations of large vessels and offshore wind turbines, floating and fixed components and platforms, as well as the logistics machinery necessary for their proper transport, storage, assembly, and handling.
To this end, each eligible project will be required to meet capacity requirements for minimum dock alignment length, draft, and associated minimum esplanade area, enabling capacity to meet the manufacturing, assembly, and transportation of offshore wind turbines for the development of offshore wind farms in Spain.
Furthermore, proposals must be linked to an industrial project with an investment comparable to or greater than the requested aid, with a term of at least 10 years, linked to offshore wind and/or marine renewable energy. These industrial projects will be promoted by private operators who obtain their concession titles through competitive procedures.
The draft call for proposals has pre-allocated budgets for three marine regions/subregions: the Bay of Biscay and Iberian Coasts Subregion and the Macaronesian Atlantic Subregion of the Canary Islands in the North Atlantic Region, and the Mediterranean Sea Region.
Evaluation criteria
Projects must comply with the European principle of “do no significant harm” (DNSH) to the environment, as well as all other applicable environmental regulations. Various assessment criteria will be taken into account, such as the project’s degree of maturity—including environmental clearance—logistical capabilities, positive externalities such as job creation, the industrial project, the number of participating ports, and economic criteria.
For the purposes of project eligibility, only projects whose implementation start date falls after February 1, 2022, will be accepted, in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2023/4 of the European Parliament and of the Council. In any case, only costs associated with projects whose material implementation begins after the date of registration of the aid application on the IDAE website will be eligible.
A country’s opportunity
Renewable energy in the marine environment is one of the levers for medium- and long-term energy transformation at the national, European, and global levels, due to its generation potential. At the same time, it also represents an industrial, economic, and social opportunity for our country, compatible with the protection of environmental values and with other uses and activities in the marine environment.
Spain has a shipbuilding industry, a maritime-port sector, civil engineering capabilities, and an industrial ecosystem of materials and equipment that can support the development of marine renewables. It also enjoys an optimal climate for testing solutions for different environments and markets. This context allows Spain to aspire to become a European and global benchmark for testing new prototypes and solutions related to marine renewable energy.
Specifically, Spanish ports are essential for the implementation of these technologies, as large manufacturing assembly areas for the development of offshore renewable energy projects in Spain and in international markets, as well as a vital part of the supply chain and logistics hub . In this context, adapted infrastructures with sufficient available areas for the simultaneous assembly and construction of floating technology offshore wind turbines are necessary.
State and European framework
The Strategic Project for the Recovery and Economic Transformation of Renewable Energy, Renewable Hydrogen, and Storage (PERTE ERHA) includes this incentive program as one of the facilitating measures to achieve one of its three main objectives: consolidating the national value chain in the energy transition and positioning Spain as a leader in this field.
The “Roadmap for the Deployment of Offshore Wind and Marine Energy in Spain,” approved in 2021, includes among its objectives “to be an international and European benchmark in industrial capabilities and the entire value chain of these energies,” and includes measures aimed at “strengthening the country’s logistics and port infrastructure capabilities for the manufacturing and assembly of offshore wind farms and marine energy devices.”
By means of Order TED/1204/2022, of December 2, 2022, which establishes the regulatory bases for the program to grant aid for investment in pilot projects and testing platforms and port infrastructure for marine renewables (RENMARINAS DEMOS Program), the instruments and measures provided for in component 7 (Deployment and integration of renewables) that are part of the PERTE (Test platforms for marine renewables and Pilot projects for marine renewables) have already been implemented. Therefore, with this new program, measure 6 (Logistics adaptations and port facilities) will be fulfilled, the last one that remained to be activated.
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