The Basque Government is doubling its funding to promote energy efficiency in industry, bringing the total to 52 million euros

• This is the aid programme with the largest annual budget allocation for industrial energy efficiency, with a total budget of €52 million. The total funding available to industry has doubled compared with 2025.

The Basque Government has launched a new aid programme aimed at improving energy efficiency in the industrial sector, with the objective of promoting energy efficiency, energy savings and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in production processes. The programme entered into force on 19 May following its publication in the Official Gazette of the Basque Country (BOPV).

The announcement was made this morning by the Basque Government’s Regional Minister for Industry, Energy Transition and Sustainability, Mikel Jauregi, during the press conference following the meeting of the Governing Council.

With a total budget of €52 million, the programme doubles the funding allocated in 2025. It is aimed at companies in the industrial sector undertaking investments to improve the efficiency of their systems and production processes, thereby strengthening their competitiveness in a context marked by volatile energy prices.

The programme, which has the largest annual budget allocation dedicated to industrial energy efficiency, is based on institutional collaboration, with €26 million provided by the Institute for Energy Diversification and Saving (IDAE). Through this initiative, the Basque Government reinforces its commitment to energy independence and the transition towards a more efficient and sustainable industrial model. In this regard, it should be noted that more than 50% of the beneficiaries of the 2025 energy efficiency aid programme are SMEs.

These grants form part of the “Lower Emissions” strategic axis of the Industry Plan – Euskadi 2030 and reinforce the Basque Government’s commitment to decarbonisation and improving industrial competitiveness. Energy efficiency makes it possible to significantly reduce energy consumption and, consequently, electricity and gas costs, one of the main factors affecting industry’s ability to compete in international markets.

The energy intensity of Basque industry has improved by 66% over the last 40 years. In fact, Euskadi ranks among Europe’s leaders in the evolution of industrial energy intensity, demonstrating the effectiveness of the efficiency measures implemented by Basque industry, which has become more efficient and sustainable as the amount of energy required to generate a unit of industrial GDP has fallen significantly.

Thanks to this new programme, Euskadi will further strengthen its position relative to Europe’s leading countries in industrial energy efficiency, outperforming economies such as Germany, France and Italy. Euskadi’s energy intensity performance is 5% better than Germany’s, 7% better than Italy’s and 24% better than France’s.

This consolidates a decades-long trajectory of public policies focused on energy savings and the efficient use of energy.

Programme characteristics

The programme is expected to support around 200 industrial projects, mobilising investments of more than €195 million. Collectively, these projects are expected to generate annual energy savings of 830 GWh, equivalent to a 4.2% reduction in the total energy consumption of Basque industry.

This effort to support industry therefore represents a significant step towards achieving the Basque Government’s objective of reducing final energy consumption by at least 12% by 2030. Euskadi has already reduced its energy consumption by 5.4% compared with 2021, with the industrial sector — accounting for almost 50% of total consumption — making the largest contribution to these cumulative savings.

Aid may reach a maximum of €4 million per project and industrial group. The intensity of the grant will range from 15% to 30% of the investment made, depending on the characteristics of the project, increasing in cases where the measures are combined with renewable energy sources. This approach reinforces the programme’s comprehensive focus, combining efficiency, savings and the deployment of sustainable energy sources.

As a distinguishing feature compared with previous editions, the programme will operate under a successive award procedure, under which applications will be assessed in the order in which they are submitted, provided they are correctly completed, until the available funds are exhausted. The programme will remain open from 19 May until 30 June 2027. Full details are available on the EVE website: www.eve.eus.

Through this initiative, the Basque Government consolidates Euskadi’s position as a European benchmark in industrial energy efficiency while advancing towards its objectives of reducing final energy consumption and decarbonisation, strengthening the competitiveness and sustainability of its industrial base.

Energy independence and reducing dependence on imported fossil fuels

Reducing industry’s dependence on fossil fuels is not only necessary for the energy transition; it is also an economic, industrial and strategic necessity. This process must be accelerated without undermining competitiveness or putting jobs at risk.

In the Basque industrial sector, 46% of energy consumption still comes from fossil fuels. While this remains a significant figure, it is below the European average of 49% and lower than the Spanish average, which stands at 56%.

Basque industry currently has the lowest level of dependence on fossil fuels in its surrounding environment. This is the result of the commitment of industry to becoming more sustainable and of the institutional support developed over many years through public-private collaboration.

In addition, Basque industry is more electrified. Electricity accounts for 43% of its energy consumption, compared with 33% in Europe and 31% in Spain. Nevertheless, despite having the lowest level of fossil fuel dependence in its environment, the Basque Government aims to go further through concrete projects.

These are the Basque Government’s key areas of action to advance energy independence and reduce dependence on fossil fuels:

Energy efficiency

Reducing fossil fuel consumption means using less energy and obtaining it from sustainable sources. The first lever is energy efficiency and industrial modernisation.
The Basque Government promotes measures for energy savings, energy efficiency and emissions reduction in manufacturing industry, with a budget allocation of €52 million, double that of 2025.

Electrification

The Basque Government has secured an increase of more than 40% in the capacity of Euskadi’s electricity transmission network within the proposed Electricity Grid Planning 2025–2030, which is currently under review.

This increase responds to a strategic need of the Basque industrial base. It will provide service to 117 industrial companies and help safeguard more than 70,000 industrial jobs.

In addition to strengthening the transmission network, the Basque Government has approved Iberdrola Distribution’s Annual Investment Plan: €332 million between 2027 and 2029, with more than €110 million already allocated for 2027. This represents a 42% increase compared with 2026.

This volume of resources dedicated to strengthening electricity infrastructure is a key element for economic development, industrial competitiveness and the attraction of new productive activities to Euskadi.

Renewable energy

Euskadi starts from a situation in which indigenous renewable electricity generation represented 7.9% of electricity consumption in 2024, compared with the European average of 46.9%.
The Basque Government has made a clear commitment to renewable energy with the objective of accelerating domestic generation and bringing Euskadi closer to European standards. This combines support for self-consumption installations of small and medium size with large-scale wind and photovoltaic developments in the most suitable locations.

Self-consumption

Over the last five years, installed self-consumption capacity in Euskadi has increased by 186 MW, rising from 7 MW in 2020 to 193 MW in 2025. This trend will help Euskadi reach European levels of self-consumption before 2030.

Through the EVE, the Basque Government has established a self-consumption support programme with an initial budget of €80 million for 2025–2026.

Large-scale wind and photovoltaic developments

The Basque Government will develop the EVE Priority Action Areas up to 2030. These are the areas selected through the application of the EVE Model, which establishes the conditions for a realistic and rational deployment of renewable energy projects in Euskadi.

New wind and photovoltaic projects will increase generation capacity by 450 MW by 2030. Together with the additional 300 MW of self-consumption capacity expected by 2030, this will double Euskadi’s own electricity generation over the next five years, improving the ratio from 7.9% to 15%.

To achieve this, the Basque Government, through the EVE, plans to invest €80 million in co-investment up to 2030 through public-private collaboration.

Hydrogen-related energy infrastructure

To increase energy security and the use of renewable energy sources such as green hydrogen from the Iberian Peninsula, the Basque Government, through the EVE, will invest €75 million in co-financing energy infrastructure linked to hydrogen and CO₂.