Proof of keen appetite for clean energy
Residents in the Valencia region apply for share of €16 million pot
SUBSIDIES and incentives to install facilities to generate and store renewable energy are proving extremely popular.
The regional department for climate emergency and ecological transition has received more than 1,000 applications for grants towards projects in just a week.
Since the application period for its €16 million aid fund opened on January 11, there has been a deluge of requests, 75% of them from private individuals, 10% from self-employed people, and the remainder divided between 15 town halls and eight social organisations (four communities of property owners, two of farmers, and two cooperatives).
The aid can be put towards the cost of projects to generate and store renewable energy from 0.5kW up to 1,346kW, and 30% of applications are for acquisition and installation of batteries. A private installation can receive a subsidy of around €3,000, while a large one for a town hall or social sector organisation could receive up to €2.5 million.
Municipal incentives
San Fulgencio town hall has announced it will grant a 90% rebate on the construction, installations and works tax (ICIO) for renewable energy and energy efficiency projects.
It will also do so for work to improve the accessibility and habitability of homes or buildings in which people with disabilities usually live.
These incentives are in addition to others that were already in the ICIO tax bylaw, such as a 50% discount for works of special interest due to social, cultural or historical-artistic circumstances, and for subsidised housing.
Mayor José Sampere said: "This is an aid that we wanted to implement from the town hall, with the aim of promoting use of clean energy and contributing to the environment, as well as helping to reduce, as far as possible, the costs of adapting a home to the needs of those with functional diversity."
Treasury councillor Borja Alonso, explained that, in addition to installation of thermal or electrical systems that work with renewable energy, other projects that can be subsidised include those which promote energy eco-efficiency and environmental sustainability, such as the implementation or replacement of heating installations, the insulation of housing or the replacement of exterior carpentry.
The tax breaks for adapting homes where disabled people live, ‘may also be applied to modification of the common elements of the building in question that serve as a passageway
to the outside, such as stairs, lifts, corridors, doorways or any architectural element’, said Sr Alonso.
They also cover modifications to be able to use electronic devices to facilitate sensory communication.
However, the tax breaks are
not applicable to installations or improvements which are obligatory to carry out by law, he noted.
More information on the necessary procedures, as well as the documentation required, is available from the town hall.