The Balearic Islands in the Western Mediterranean are a famously sunny tourist destination. Their power needs are less well known, but decentralized solar systems with storage would seem ideal for such a location. The Spanish Government has awarded 28 million euros ($30.7 million) in state aid to incentivize the installation of renewables and energy storage systems across the islands.
These projects will add 49.625 MW of installed solar photovoltaic capacity as well as around 53.50 MWh of energy storage across the three main Balearic Islands of Ibiza, Mallorca and Menorca. Fourteen solar-plus-storage projects as well as one storage project that will go on to connect with an existing 5.5-MW solar farm and elevate grid security across the area have been green-lighted.
The intention is to provide islanders with smaller, local, energy systems which will be more suitable for their future needs and more adaptable than large power plants. Four projects of less than 1 MW of generation capacity as well as five projects of less than 5 MW will get state support.
The state aid, which was sourced from Spain’s EU-funded COVID recovery program, will finance between 40% and 65% of the planned investment in these projects, the ministry said. Private capital or possibly crowdfunding is expected to provide the rest of the funding. Tax breaks, state aid and EU grants, as well as hiked electricity prices, have started a boom in solar panel installation across the islands.
With more decentralized power, the islands, which have a large amount of political autonomy, will have to ensure that their ICT and demand/load management systems are very advanced to ensure that stakeholders and users obtain the maximum benefit from these new power plants when they are deployed.