The Ministry of Economy, Innovation and Science, through the Andalusian Energy Agency, has encouraged this year more than 18,700 new domestic renewable energy equipment, specifically for the use of solar energy and biomass for thermal purposes.
In a note, the Department of Antonio Ávila indicates that these grants are part of the Sustainable Energy Development Subsidies Program of Andalusia 'A +', which has an endowment of 480 million euros until 2014 and has already made investments in the domestic sector worth 38 million euros since its launch in February 2009.
"The incorporation of renewable energies to Andalusian homes has experienced a considerable increase in the last biennium," he says. In fact, in 2010 alone, 18,746 new systems subsidised by the Energy Agency were installed, which means the granting of aid worth 24.5 million euros.
Specifically, 7,696 of these incentives correspond to solar thermal installations, while 11,050 belong to thermal generation systems through the use of biomass. Thus, only in the domestic sector, Andalusia has in 2010 148,000 kilowatts (kW) more installed thermal power compared to 2009 and almost 34,000 new square meters of solar thermal panels (650,000 square meters in total), thanks to which the emission of 84,000 tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere per year will be avoided.
By province, the most active users in terms of aid to biomass installations were residents in Granada who, with a total of 4,258 installations, are positioned in first place in the demand for this type of renewable energy systems. They are followed by the provinces of Seville (2,819 installations), Jaén (2,688 installations), Córdoba (2,500 installations), Málaga (1,655 installations), Almería (1,559 installations), Cádiz (899 installations) and Huelva, with 521 subsidised installations.
Regarding solar thermal installations, the users with the highest number of incentivized installations were residents in Malaga, with a total of 2,053. It is followed by the provinces of Seville (1,980 installations), Cádiz (1,309 installations), Almería (944 installations), Córdoba (454 installations), Granada (416 installations), Huelva (325 incentives) and Jaén with 215 installations.
The 'A+' Program offers citizens a comfortable telematic application procedure through the collaborating companies of the Andalusian Energy Agency that has been decisive in the success of participation. Through this management system the buyer receives the help as a discount at the time of purchase.
MODIFICATION OF THE 'A+' PROGRAM
Following principles of greater efficiency in the use of public funds and quality in services to citizens, on December 16 several modifications on the 'A+' Grant Program came into force. In this way, the management of the energy development aid order has been improved and simplified, which, in addition, expands its spectrum of incentive projects, including those executed by companies in the agri-food sector.
Under the approved amendment, the simplified procedure for processing aid, hitherto only available to private citizens, is extended to all beneficiaries, with the exception of large companies, and the requirements for access to the different types of subsidy, especially for SMEs, are reduced. Likewise, a chapter of Specific Programs is introduced for projects with a specific target audience to access, according to their needs, more directly.
All this makes the aid order an instrument of "great power, not only to strengthen the business sector of renewable energies and energy saving", mostly constituted by SMEs, but to develop the Andalusian Energy Sustainability Plan 2007-2013 (Pasener) in terms of promoting the change towards a new energy culture through responsible consumption, the value of renewability and efficiency in the use of energy in the habits of the population. (EUROPA PRESS)
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