The Government publishes aid to support business projects in areas affected by energy transition

The first call will be endowed with 50 million.

The Government publishes aid to support business projects in areas affected by energy transition

The first call will be endowed with 50 million

MADRID, 16 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Institute for the Just Transition (ITJ), an autonomous body of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, has published this Friday in the Official State Gazette (BOE) two ministerial orders that will regulate two calls for aid, the first of them which will be endowed with 50 million euros, for business projects that generate activity and employment.

Specifically, the aid is intended to support those projects in this area that promote alternative development in the 197 municipalities included in the 15 Just Transition Agreements, affected by the closure of coal mines and coal and nuclear power plants, reported the Ministry.

The objective of these aid lines -corresponding to the ITJ programming period 2022-2027- is to promote specific business investment initiatives in areas affected by the energy transition. With them, it is sought to generate alternative economic activities that encourage the creation of jobs, as well as maintain existing jobs that promote a new economic development in these territories.

The aid granted by this instrument will be based on two components: the investment made and the creation of employment. Likewise, the hiring of people registered in the ITJ job exchanges will be discounted, with the goal of promoting the creation of priority employment for workers affected by the closure of mines and plants. Likewise, the creation of jobs for women, young people, people over 45 years of age and people with disabilities will be discounted.

For the award of the aid, the environmental and social benefits of the projects, their capacity to generate employment, their driving effect on the territory, their innovation and their location in municipalities affected by depopulation, the demographic challenge and the closure of coal mines and power stations. Small and medium-sized companies will also have an additional score.

The conditions of these aids will promote the location of industrial projects, as well as other sectors of activity, in the 197 municipalities included in the 15 Just Transition Agreements: Carboneras, Puente Nuevo-Valle del Guadiato and Los Barrios in Andalusia; Aragon; Southwest, Valle del Nalón, and Valle del Caudal and Aboño in the Principality of Asturias; Bierzo-Laciana, Montaña Central Leonesa-La Robla, and Guardo-Velilla, in Castilla y León; Meirama and As Pontes in Galicia; Alcudia in the Balearic Islands; Zorita in Castilla-La Mancha; and Garoña in Castilla y León-Basque Country.

Specifically, the ITJ plans to provide the first call, which would be launched at the beginning of the year, with 50 million euros, of which 40 million euros will be allocated to business projects and 10 million euros to small investment projects.

Business projects are considered to be those that require a minimum investment of 100,000 euros and create at least three jobs. For their part, small investment projects must invest a minimum of 30,000 euros and commit to maintaining employment for the next three years or create at least one job for new initiatives.

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