SPAIN
SUPPORTING POLICIES FOR OCEAN ENERGY
NATIONAL STRATEGY AND TARGETS
No relevant changes for ocean energy strategy have happened in Spain since 2011, when the Spanish Renewable Energy Plan 2011-2020 was approved. This plan included targets for ocean energy (100 MW of installed power by 2020); however, these targets seem now difficult to achieve due to the lack of specific supporting policies for ocean energy.
One Spanish region has defined specific strategies and targets for ocean energy: The Basque Government approved in 2016 its Energy Strategy for 2030, which included a specific initiative to speed up technology and commercial development for marine energy and set a target of 60MW by 2030.
REGULATORY FRAMEWORK
In Spain no dedicated consenting process exists for ocean energy technologies but there are several legal documents affecting ocean energy projects:
- The Royal Decree 1028/2007 establishes the administrative procedure for processing applications for electricity generating facilities in territorial waters. Although it focuses on offshore wind, it also includes electricity generation from other marine renewable technologies. This Decree foresees a simplified procedure governed by Royal Decree 1955/2000 regulating energy transport, distribution, commercialisation, supply and the authorisation procedure for electrical power plants.
- Law 2/2013, of 29 May, for protection and sustainable use of coastal and amending the previous Coastal Law of 1988. It provides the legal framework for occupation of the territorial sea, as well as governing issues affecting the fishing sector and safety conditions for maritime navigation.
- Law 21/2013, of 9 December 9, establishes a simplified process on Environmental Impact Assessment for all marine energy projects.
MARKET INCENTIVES
There are no specific market incentives for ocean energy in Spain currently. However as a result of the pre-commercial public procurement tender launched by EVE in November 2014 and awarded to OCEANTEC in 2015, a floating oscillating water column concept device called MARMOK-A-5 was successfully installed in October 2016 at BiMEP.
PUBLIC FUNDING PROGRAMMES
There are several R&D public funding programmes in Spain not specific for ocean energy but applicable in competition with other sectors. In addition, there are a couple of programmes more specific for ocean energy:
- The European network OCEANERA-NET, participated by the Spanish Government through CDTI and agencies from Asturias, Cantabria, Basque Country and the Canary Islands, launched a second call in 2016 with the aim of funding projects to support research and innovation in the ocean energy sector. CDTI and EVE (Basque Country) have been also working on a continuation of this network to secure a new call in 2017 under a co-funding mechanism with the European Commission.
- In the Basque Country, a new call to support open sea testing was launched by EVE in 2016. The purpose of this programme is the demonstration and validation of emerging marine renewable energy technologies.
