It doesn’t go anymore. Today the Ministry of Industry will announce the definitive resolution of the PERTE of the electric and connected vehicle. An aid plan of 2,975 million euros born with the intention of being a before and after for the automotive industry on its way to the new electric age.
Of the allocated amount, 1,425 million will be distributed in the form of loans and 1,550 million will be distributed via direct grants. A bazooka of public funds to which the Ministry of Industry hopes that a private investment will be added that will multiply public resources several times. This instrument is structured in three levels, within which there are different initiatives.
The aid provided for in this order has a maximum term of realization until September 30, 2025. In addition, the aid may be multi-annual and formalized as loans, grants or as a combination of both. They will receive financing from the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism in the grant part and financing from the national budget in the loan part.
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The 2,975 million euros corresponding to the industrial part of PERTE are completed with aid from the Moves III Plan, the Moves Singular Projects Program, the CDTI Technological Program for sustainable mobility, artificial intelligence and connected vehicles.
In total, they will reach 4,300 million euros. In this way, the development of the project foresees a total investment of more than 24,000 million euros in the 2021-2023 period between public and private investments.
PERTE design
The PERTE design differentiates different areas. On the one hand, there are the compulsory industrial blocks. This section includes aid for the manufacture of original equipment and assembly, the manufacture of batteries or hydrogen cells and the manufacture of other essential components adapted to the electric and connected vehicle.
Here would be found the initiatives with the greatest impact, such as the electrification of the current Spanish automobile manufacturing plants or the construction of a series of battery gigafactories for electric vehicles.
Added to this are the additional character blocks, complementary to the mandatory ones. Here they highlight the manufacture of intelligent vehicle components, electric vehicle connectivity and the manufacture of recharging systems. This section aims to modernize the auxiliary industry to adapt it to the new needs of the automotive industry.
Lastly, there would be the obligatory transversal blocks. It makes up the plan circular economy, the digitization plan and the training plan and professional recycling. Activities that are intended to form part of the routine activity of the Spanish plants.
Interest of the first automotive swords
The Volkswagen group was the first to certify its participation in this initiative. In a proposal led by Seat and made up of 62 companies, the German giant has put on the table a project that intends to mobilize 11,000 million euros. A proposal that will be the most ambitious of those presented in Spain since, in addition to the modernization of its plants, the start-up of a battery gigafactory in Sagunto will be added.
Stellantis has presented two other projects to PERTE that intend to mobilize 266 million euros. The first will be led by the plant in Zaragoza (Figueruelas) and will have an investment of 223 million euros. The second is backed by the Vigo and Madrid factories and has associated investments worth 43 million euros.
Workers at the Stellantis plant in Figueruelas.
In this same sense, fifty partners led by Renault have presented their proposal for the PERTE of the electric and connected vehicle. In this case, the project brings together a total of 31 initiatives structured around three axes: decarbonization, connectivity and mobility as a service.
Finally, the Mercedes group project seeks to convert its Vitoria plant into an electrical factory and, in addition, promote a battery plant for zero-emission vehicles known as Basquevolt. A project that has the support of the Basque Government and that seeks an investment of around 700 million euros. The facility would have 10 GWh of capacity to manufacture solid-state batteries and would employ 800 people.
Disturbing interim resolution
Today’s communication should clear up the doubts left by the provisional resolution. Last Monday, August 1, the General Directorate of Industry and Small and Medium Enterprises announced a first result that it only awarded 702 million of 2,975 million.
According to this decision, three of the main projects presented to PERTE were excluded from the first provisional award. Envision and Acciona’s plans to set up a battery factory in Extremadura, Stellantis’ plans for Galicia and Madrid, and Rieju’s were rejected at first instance.
Of all of them, the case of the Extremadura gigafactory is the one that caused the most stir. On July 18, the President of the Government himself, Pedro Sánchez, participated together with representatives of the Asian brand in an event held in Extremadura in which a project that aspired to capture an important part of the resources of the PERTE.
Thus, during today’s session the automotive industry will receive a boost that aims to be key to the future of one of the activities that generates the most employment and wealth in Spain. A decision that, at the same time, will be the baptism for the PERTE concept, initiatives that will mark a large part of the success of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan to mobilize Next Generation funds.
