The director of the Institute for Just Transition (ITJ) of Spain, Judit Carreras , accompanied by the government delegate in Galicia, Pedro Blanco , announced the awarding of the 408 MW of capacity of access to the electricity grid of the Meirama 220 kV just transition node to the reversible hydroelectric power plant project promoted by Coventina Renovables.
The project is linked to an investment of over 400 million euros and the creation of more than 1,000 jobs over a decade.
The competition, promoted by the ITJ, an agency under the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO), has followed a competitive bidding process to grant access rights to the electricity grid, prioritizing projects that, while minimizing environmental impact, maximize local socio-economic benefits for the Meirama just transition zone, affected by the closure of the eponymous thermal power plant and comprised of the municipalities of Carral, Cerceda, A Laracha, Ordes and Tordoia.
The company will also provide vocational training programs for 450 local residents, totaling 67,500 hours of training, while installing 2 MW of photovoltaic self-consumption for homes and municipal buildings.
Furthermore, the winning bidder has deposited a guarantee of 52.8 million to ensure compliance with these socio-economic and environmental commitments.
The project, which must obtain the corresponding environmental and administrative authorizations, has been proposed as a beneficiary of 30 million from the MITECO aid line for innovative energy storage projects through reversible pumping, managed by the Institute for Energy Diversification and Saving (IDAE).
More than 183 million for 59 projects in Galicia
This competition complements other support mechanisms already deployed since 2019 for just transition zones in Galicia by the Ministry for Ecological Transition (MITECO), such as ITJ grants for job-creating business projects, small investment projects, municipal and infrastructure projects; and IDAE grants, prioritized for just transition zones, aimed at renewable hydrogen projects and renewable industrial value chains, among others. In total, since 2019, MITECO has awarded more than €183 million in grants to 59 projects in the just transition zones of Meirama and As Pontes.