The planned Estremadura project near Navalmoral de la Mata in Cáceres won’t resemble a gigafactory at first glance. In the final verdict on the 2,975 million euro package for electric vehicle initiatives, part of the PERTE VEC, there is still no official data. Minister Reyes Maroto confirmed yesterday that the evaluation commission has approved a public investment of 877.2 million euros, which is expected to mobilize about 2,250 million euros in sector investments. That figure is 170 million higher than the first August resolution and accounts for just under a third of the total funding estimate.
That modest uptick stands in contrast to recent movements: the head of Industries at Stellantis reported a 15 million euro increase at the Figueruelas plant in Zaragoza two weeks ago, and Madrid is seen as already having secured funds. It remains clear that Volkswagen’s gigafactory will claim a substantial share, with 167 million euros allocated as the largest item among the ten projects initially approved for assessment.
PERTE is “not mandatory” and “constricts a lot,” Vara remarks on this funding tool
The fate of Envisión and its Extremadura cell factory remains uncertain. There is little space for it to enter and even less for the company to secure the funds it seeks for the investment. The target remains around 1,000 million euros, with at least 300 million as a starting point.
During the first screening in August, the Envision project in Extremadura was already left out after 707 million prizes were awarded. The evaluation commission judged that the tractor project did not meet the “required minimum PERTE structure.” It was noted that the tractor project’s fundable budget did not reach the stated minimum relative to other technically feasible proposals. Both factors were treated as mutually exclusive grounds. While the company has pursued other financing options in parallel with the Junta de Extremadura and regional incentives including the regional leadership, the Junta’s head Guillermo Fernández Vara had signaled two weeks earlier that PERTE’s final decision would not include the project led by the Chinese firm, alongside Acciona.
The final decision’s fine print and the projects that ultimately appear or do not appear in the Resilience Plan will be announced next week. The Ministry of Industry stated on Thursday that the decision will be communicated to each beneficiary group and will be posted on the ministry’s website. Winning companies will need to provide the required guarantees and should begin accessing funds before year-end, with an estimated 90 percent of the total aid disbursed to successful applicants.
Another PERTE call expected in 2023
Forecasts indicate a new call will open in the first quarter of 2023, as Minister Maroto announced during an event in Vigo, according to Europa Press summaries. In this inaugural edition, abundant funds would be available and could be expanded if necessary. This renewed PERTE could open additional opportunities for Envision’s giga factory in Extremadura, though not alone.
Industry Ministry signals another 2023 call and potential extra funding if required
Junta de Extremadura president Guillermo Fernández Vara again asserted this week that the initiative would proceed—one way or another. The same view applies to Volkswagen’s Sagunto project in Valencia. Vara noted that the question is not whether investments of this scale will be made overnight. The Chinese group’s project in Extremadura is moving forward with the expectation that it will be viable even outside PERTE, while PERTE remains a complex mechanism that is difficult to adapt to brand-new projects. Since last October, when the possibility of excluding the project from PERTE began to be evaluated, the board argued that a battery factory would likely be supported—PERTE’s margins are tight and its adaptability remains a challenge for new ventures like this.