MADRID, Jan 28 (Reuters) - The European Commission has approved a 3.1 billion euro ($3.4 billion) Spanish state aid scheme to support electricity output from highly efficient power plants, it said on Wednesday, amid an EU push to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
Support will cover new or substantially refurbished combined heat and power (CHP) plant projects using natural gas, bioliquids, biogas and solid biomass.
Natural gas projects must include equipment enabling the use of at least 10% renewable hydrogen by volume to avoid perpetuating reliance on the fossil fuel.
The European Union has current targets to cut net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030 and achieve climate neutrality by 2050, and is pushing more broadly to reduce final energy consumption to mitigate the effects of climate change.
The Spanish scheme will run for 10 years and be open to operators of CHP installations that meet the definition of high-efficiency cogeneration under the EU's Energy Efficiency Directive, the Commission said in a statement.
Aid will be granted as a remuneration premium to compensate for investments in bringing CHPs onstream and for operating costs calculated and updated quarterly, the Commission said.
(Reporting by David Latona; Editing by Andrei Khalip and Jan Harvey)
