The Ministry for the Ecological Transition, through the Institute for the Just Transition (ITJ), has launched the just transition contests of Meirama, Narcea and La Pereda (Asturias)which will allow 836 megawatts of grid access capacity to be granted for new renewable and storage facilities.
The contest for the Meirama 220 kV fair transition node, linked to the closure of the Cerceda plantwill offer 408 MW of access capacity to facilities in the municipalities of the Meirama just transition zone, that is, Carral, Cerceda, A Laracha, Ordes and Tordoia.
The Official State Gazette (BOE) publishes this Thursday the launch of these contests with the aim of granting access rights to the electrical grid to renewable projects and storage in areas linked to the closure of coal-fired power plants.
The cabinet led by Sara Aagesen reported that these competitions will prioritize projects that minimize environmental impact and maximize local socioeconomic benefits to mitigate the impact of plant closures.
In neighboring Asturias, the just transition knot contest has also been launched from Narcea 400 kVlinked to the closure of the homonymous thermal power plant, and which will allow the granting of the 354 MW of available capacity in the hub and its underlying distribution network to facilities located in the six municipalities of the just transition zone: Allande, Cangas del Narcea, Degaña, Ibias, Salas and Tineo.
Furthermore, in the same region the contest for the fair transition node of La Pereda 220 kVrelated to the process of transformation and closure of the facilities of coal waste from the Mieres plant.
The tender will offer 74 MW of capacity to facilities in the municipalities of the just transition zone of the Caudal valley: Aller, Lena, Mieres, Morcín, Quirós, Ribera de Arriba, Riosa and Teverga.
Benefits
Among the criteria for awarding these tenders, in addition to prioritizing those projects that minimize environmental impact, the Government will analyze investments in circular economy actions or biodiversity improvementand the socioeconomic benefits for the territory.
Among these benefits to be valued are the employment promotionespecially for surplus plant workers and women; support for local industrial, agricultural or social projects; training for residents of the area; the development of self-consumption; or investments in the provincial value chain and the participation of local investors.
Just transition contests are added to other support instruments already deployed for the areas by the ITJ, such as aid for business projects that generate employment, for small investment projects and for municipal and infrastructure projects.
New wave of contests
The capacity contests in Asturias and Galicia are part of a new wave of contests in just transition nodes, after the previous experience of the Mudéjar 400 kV junction (Teruel), where the installation of renewables has been accompanied by industrial and service sector projects, with job creation greater than the number of workers affected by the closure of the coal-fired power plant.
Likewise, the construction of the Maciñeira 400 kV substationwhich will be competed as a fair transition hub in the As Pontes area (A Coruña), was included in the Modifications of Specific Aspects of Planning 2021-2026.
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