The deep state of energy transformation in which Spain and the entire EU are immersed is a key element of the future for the Spanish industry. The decarbonization of our economy is positioned as the main axis from which to combat the problems caused by climate change.
For this path to be feasible, it is essential that public funds decisively collaborate with business plans in their transition towards a green economy. The Meetings organized by 'La Vanguardia' and Bankinter to address the challenge of renewable energies and European funds, which were held last week in the port of Tarragona, shed light on the difficult and complex path that companies must follow.
Emma Montserrat, deputy deputy general director of Bankinter and responsible for European funds at her financial institution, quantified the large volume of funds that are available to companies that present solid projects to transform the national energy plan.
“Spain was assigned 70,000 million in the form of a subsidy. And through loans another 95,000 million more. In total165,000 million, a figure that is presented as a historic opportunity and it is everyone's task to make the most of it." Under the title of “Renewable energies and European funds, keys to seizing the moment”, the meeting included the participation of two debate tables. In the first, in addition to Emma Montserrat, Daniel Ramos, Green leader of FI Group, and Isaac Justicia, director of the technical office of the Vall de l'Hidrògen of Catalonia, took part. Green hydrogen, the energy vector that knocks on the door of modernity as the main striking force against fossil fuels, was one of the keys to the debate. Justice pointed out that “hydrogen is strategic throughout the territory. We are 280 linked entities throughout Catalonia that are committed to it to promote decarbonization and that push is vital to push forward the promotion of new projects.”
In the process to make many of these projects a reality, the consulting firm FI Group plays a key role. “We are travel companions for our clients in technological and energy research and development. We work with them on decarbonization strategies,” said Daniel Ramos. Bankinter's role in this process is to "accompany clients, advise them, and help them see how to opt for these funds and then, effectively, act as a financial entity to help with guarantees, loans and advances of aid," indicated Emma Montserrat. .
The current situation inevitably involves reducing CO2 and decarbonizing the industry. One of the elements for this is to convert hydrogen into green, but this process is expensive and, without notable aid, its viability is threatened by high costs that put the competitiveness of companies in check.
The main impetus to give wings to the transformation towards renewables arose, curiously, from two negative events: the great economic stoppage suffered by the covid pandemic and the war in Ukraine. “The war has shaken the economic stability of the EU and there have been real options for supply cuts,” said Daniel Ramos. The decision to make European funds available responds to a strategic trend. “It is about opting for energy independence and companies are going down that path,” added Ramos. Therefore, the role of those who can advise and accompany companies is essential.
“Hydrogen is an energy bet, but it has a maturation curve that still has a long way to go. Bankinter's interest is to be very close to companies to support the development of projects, which need European funds to reach a speed that will advance the maturation curve," said Emma Montserrat. Green hydrogen is an energy vector. “It must be generated with renewable energy and its use is then diverse, in fuel cells or combustion, which allows boilers with high caloric needs without emitting CO2,” said Isaac Justicia. The leader of the Vall de l'Hidrògen of Catalonia considered that “Spain can be one of the poles of hydrogen generation in all of Europe”, but to achieve this it depends directly on renewable energies “and in many parts of Spain they are beginning to see reluctance in renewable projects. We are called to be a pole of generation and attraction of hydrogen, in all its forms, but we can be limited and end up being mere transporters. The key is to generate it and create an entire industry around hydrogen that promotes knowledge and industry,” added Justicia.
To do things well, enormous public help is needed. An example. A kilo of hydrogen in the United States, thanks to subsidies, costs around 4 euros and in Europe it does not go below 13. If the cost does not come down, we will not be able to compete. Now, to qualify for the funds it is necessary “that companies are aware of the type of technology they need. The calls respond to an objective – Europe's neutral emissions in 2050 – and to achieve this, funds allocated to decarbonization and the energy transition are needed,” said Ramos, for whom the key to success in qualifying for the calls lies in present “very grounded projects, which could ensure a hydrogen production cost of 6 euros per kilo.” The meeting offered elements of help for companies to apply for funds. “The administration has never received such a huge amount of funds, but when it is not easy to reach them, a certain feeling of frustration is generated,” said Montserrat. Therefore, it is essential that the project fits. “You have to know what is requested and work on that presentation,” said Emma Montserrat. In this sense, Daniel Ramos added that we must move forward in “better communication between the sectors and the administration, among other things for legal certainty, investment and energy regulations.”
In Spain, two large calls for funds are expected to see the light of day in the coming months, “one related to hydrogen valleys and, the one that will attract the most attention from companies, the specific one on decarbonization,” said Justicia. “Any industry or sector can benefit. There will be a demand much higher than the figure that will be assigned,” stressed Emma Montserrat. Therefore, advice is vital. The second table of the meeting focused on explaining four success stories of Spanish companies in obtaining funds to finance part of their energy transition. Emma Montserrat moderated this panel, which included Gerard Brinquis, head of European funds at FI Group; Alfonso Pérez Carballo, general director of L. Pernía; Francisco Cordero, director of innovation and transformation at Balantia; Jeffrey Dost, promoter of Hydrogenizing BCN-H2 BCN, and Marc Fernández, manager of Openchip. Despite the success of the projects of each of these companies, they all agreed that the funding scenario has its complexity. As Emma Montserrat indicated by way of preamble, “you have to identify the call, work on the presentation of the project, and if you are granted it, you still need help and at that moment is when the company needs us to advance the subsidy or to complement it. . That is where Bankinter comes in.”
Gerard Brinquis indicated that 2022 closed with more than 22,000 million euros allocated in Spain, of which 13,000 were allocated to companies.
But the growth in requests “is exponential. Keep in mind that the fund covered the period 2021-23 and its global figure reached 70,000 million.” In his opinion there will be very important calls and he put three keys to success on the table: reflect on the project (it is not feasible to invent projects to attract subsidies), go hand in hand with the best allies and anticipate. Success stories
The first success story was told by Jeffrey Dost. Hydrogenizing BCN was born in 2019, when the EU classified hydrogen as one of the priorities for Europe. “If there is a real transformation we can make the leap to the business world and have an economy of scale in production to create a product with a competitive price.” According to Dost, “we can offer green hydrogen to the consumer with a total cost that is in parity with the cost of diesel.” Hydrogenizing BCN will start its factory in April 2026, a project budgeted at 50 million euros and which has meant receiving a subsidy of 12.8 million.
The next success story involved Openchip. Marc Fernández explained how the two partners of the company, GTD and Supercomputing Center Barcelona, devised its creation in 2020 due to the lack of chips, which led them to enter a market dominated by large multinationals.
“We want to compete with these monsters and we do it by focusing on chip accelerators, where artificial intelligence plays, computing that does not go up to the cloud, which gives increasingly faster responses,” said Fernández.
Ten years of project is what Openchip presented, induced by the needs of one of the partners, the Supercomputing Center. The bet is enormous. The budget for the first years reaches 500 million euros, of which “we have approved aid worth 138 million. It is an authentic country project, with public-private collaboration,” added Marc Fernández.
The third case presented at the day was Balantia, an energy services company created in 2011. “We developed two differentiated but synergistic aspects focused on decarbonization: one of them fights for energy efficiency and the other addresses digital products, closely related. with artificial intelligence,” said Francisco Cordero. The application of artificial intelligence for the sustainable energy transition process is “a very interesting project.” Cordero pointed out that we investigate technological solutions based on artificial intelligence and apply these solutions in case of use, both in generation, networks and consumption."
A particularity of this case is that it has a consortium of more than 20 companies. Without having to wait The case of L. Pernía is also a reference. “We are a company with 40 years of history and we did simple things. We had trucks with which we provided services to the agri-food industry, for example the beer industry. Many liters are produced every day and the number 1 cause of crisis in such an industry is that the by-product of production is not removed daily. Our task was to collect that product and take it to livestock farms. But it had a lot of humidity and that was a handicap,” said Alfonso Pérez Carballo. In addition to humidity, the beer consumer market generates different speeds of production. So “we came up with a formula: dehydrate all the moisture from the tons, more than 300 every day, with solar energy. The complexity was the investment. We presented the project, they approved it, and we have the largest and most efficient solar plant in Europe. The grant money? It hasn't reached us yet, but to stop that blow we had Bankinter,” Pérez Carballo added.
The meeting also included the participation of the president of the Port of Tarragona, Saül Garreta, and the deputy general manager of Bankinter and territorial director of Catalonia, Eduard Gallart. Garreta explained the efforts of the Port of Tarragona to execute the energy transition. “We are investing to electrify our docks, and that the energy we supply comes from renewable sources. “We play in favor of decarbonization.” And he added the need to carry out the reconversion of the petrochemical port. For his part, the head of the bank in Catalonia, Eduard Gallart, praised the advisory and help service that the bank has made available to companies for the management and processing of European funds and highlighted Bankinter's competitive advantages in the current moment, one of the most solid, solvent and profitable entities on the European financial scene. “We are a bank highly specialized in corporate business. A couple of years ago we focused on European funds and seeing how to land them for the benefit of companies. We have signed more than 40 agreements with business associations from all sectors, to provide them with our financial support so that they can start their projects without waiting for the aid to be executed.
