The European Commission authorises €837 million for battery production under the second PERTE VEC call

The European Commission (EC) has today approved the allocation of €837 million for the manufacture of batteries for electric and connected vehicles, within the regulatory framework of the second call of the Strategic Project for Economic Recovery and Transformation in the Electric and Connected Vehicle Sector (PERTE VEC). In its communiqué, the EC concludes that the Spanish framework is necessary, appropriate and proportionate to accelerate the ecological transition and facilitate the development of certain economic activities essential for the implementation of the Green Pact Industrial Plan, which is in line with the conditions set out in the Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework.

Spain is the first country in the EU to notify an aid scheme under section 2.8 of the Temporary Framework and the first to obtain an authorisation of this kind.

For the Minister for Industry, Trade and Tourism, Héctor Gómez, "this is excellent news that will allow us to continue to make progress in drafting the order of bases for the new call for applications, scheduled for the beginning of this summer. Spain's commitment to sustainability is clear and firm, and this is corroborated by European institutions; the electrification of the automotive industry can only go forward, and the paradigm shift is already a reality".

This second PERTE VET call, which is planned to be announced in June and will be allocated a total of €1.475 billion, contains important new features, including the extension of the aid thresholds introduced in the Block Exemption Regulation and the inclusion of the flexibilities for certain projects provided for in the Temporary Framework for the war in Ukraine, enabling the administrative simplification of the procedure. This new edition will have two lines: one for the battery ecosystem (the one that the EC has announced today) and another for individual projects with an impact on the different links in the value chain of electric and connected vehicles.

Battery benchmark

The government wants Spain to become a benchmark in both the production of batteries for electric vehicles and in new forms of green and sustainable mobility. In this regard, the construction of a gigafactory is already under way in the Valencian Community, which will be operational in 2026, and several other projects are in the pipeline that will now be eligible for this new call.

First call

In the 2022 PERTE VEC call, which was closed on 20 January 2023, 10 tractor projects were approved and will receive a total support of almost €800 million (€526 million in the form of a grant and almost €268 million in the form of a loan).

Non official translation