Several
potential battery cell plants project hinge on the PERTE funds. India’s
Tata Group is considering setting up a plant in Spain or Britain, and Slovakian
battery manufacturer InoBat is also looking at opportunities for a plant in
Spain. Most of the funds should be allocated by November with a view to start
manufacturing by 2028 at the latest. Lopez said less stringent requirements
compared to the original PERTE, which only allocated 27 percent of it’s
2.9-billion-euro budget in 2022, made him confident all the remaining funds
would be used.
All bids
will be individual and the selection criteria will be simpler following last
year’s fiasco that also led to the sacking of an official and the appointment
of a commissioner. Lopez said the initial PEERTE had “many restrictions”, such
as the need to submit a joint bid of large and smaller companies as well as a
short timelineto use the funds, while the revamped program is more flexible
after the European Commission allowed Spain to be less rigid in allocating
state aid.
Under the
new program, which includes grants and loans as with the initial PERTE,
recipients will have 40 or 60 months to bring their manufacturing operations
onstream. Some projects would not be finalized until the end of 2028 after
European Commission eased the initial requirement that all pandemic relief
funds be invested by 2026, Lopez said. Financing will be limited to a maximum
of 350 million euros for battery projects depending on location, while there
will be no limits for EV projects, he added. Companies that received money from
the first PERTE will have to submit new projects.
Source: www.jakartapost.com
Zpracoval kolektiv pracovníků zahraniční kanceláře CzechTrade Jakarta.