The European Commission will allocate €180 million to Repsol’s ‘Aguayo II’ project for the expansion of the Aguayo pumped-storage hydroelectric plant, located in the Cantabrian municipality of San Miguel de Aguayo. This is the largest single grant within a package of almost €650 million earmarked for financing 14 cross-border energy infrastructure projects in the European Union.
According to the Commission, the planned installation at this plant will improve the efficiency of renewable energy generation and storage through underground infrastructure that will not require expanding existing reservoirs.
Aguayo II has been recognized by the EU since 2023 as a Project of Common Interest (PCI), which grants preferential access to financing and regulatory coordination. It aligns with objectives of market integration, network interoperability, decarbonization, efficiency, and security of supply. Repsol received support from the Spanish and regional governments for its application.
Specifically, the Aguayo expansion project involves increasing the installed capacity of the existing pumped-storage hydroelectric plant by 1,000 megawatts (MW), raising it to 1,400 MW, with an annual production of 2,000 gigawatt-hours (GWh), enough energy to supply more than 800,000 homes in Spain.
This plant would thus become the second largest of its kind in Spain, contributing to strengthening the electrical grid and facilitating the integration of renewable energy in the Iberian Peninsula.