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Spain earmarks USD 2.5 bn for renewables + hydrogen: Spain has announced a new EUR 2.3 bn (USD 2.5 bn) program aimed at accelerating its transition to clean energy, Reuters quotes Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez as saying in an address to parliament. The initiative — which will focus on providing subsidies for green energy industries and renewable hydrogen production — will work on decarbonizing the agriculture and infrastructure sectors, as well as rural areas. Earlier this month, the government approved EUR 794 mn in subsidies for large green hydrogen projects, targeting an electrolysis capacity of 652 MW. The country recently updated its 2030 hydrogen electrolyser target to 11 GW, up from the previous 4 GW.
Germany is set to cut and reform subsidies for renewable energy producers due to rising government costs, Bloomberg reports. Payments for mid-size and large projects that have electricity prices fall below zero — or produce more energy than the needed demand — will be canceled starting in January. The government currently ensures renewables producers receive a guaranteed minimum price, but with wholesale power prices falling, it has had to cover the difference, costing up to EUR 20 bn this year alone.
What will they do? The government plans to reform future payments by basing subsidies on investment costs rather than guaranteed output prices, Bloomberg adds. This is part of a broader effort to overhaul the power market, build new gas-fired plants, and create a capacity mechanism by 2028. The draft budget law also proposes that subsidies will stop once the power market is sufficiently flexible and has adequate storage capacities.
