The ICF opens 24 million in loans for all nuclear municipalities

The Catalan Institute of Finance (ICF) has opened the ICF Lidera Nuclear Transition Fund loan line, endowed with 24 million euros, to finance productive investments in the municipalities affected by the future closure of the Ascó and Vandellòs nuclear power plants. The specific regulations and the opening of the application period are published in the Official Gazette of the Generalitat de Catalunya (DOGC) no. 9789, of November 6, 2026, with the reference CVE-DOGC-A-26303031-2026. The line is managed by the ICF and co-financed by the Department of Enterprise and Labor through an interest subsidy fund.

The measure is framed within Decree-law 19/2025, of September 30, on extraordinary measures in the field of tax on installations that impact the environment. According to the published text, the objective is to “strengthen competitiveness, generate economic activity, and promote job creation to contribute to territorial rebalancing” in areas where the closure of the nuclear plants necessitates the promotion of “additional actions to improve the productive model.”

The line is included in the Strategic Grant Plan with the code PES2528_ECF0041 and has four registration codes in the Registry of Grants and Subsidies of Catalonia (RAIS): 6330-26-009, 6330-26-010, 6330-26-011, and 6330-26-012.

Financial conditions of the loan

The loans cover investment and working capital associated with the investment, under the following conditions:

• Minimum amount: 35,000 euros; maximum amount: 350,000 euros.
• Variable interest rate: 12-month Euribor plus a spread of 2%.
• Term between 1 and 7 years, with a principal repayment grace period of up to 1 year included in the term.
• Opening fee of 0% and early repayment fee of 0.25% of the amortized amount, which does not apply if the repayment occurs due to a project grant.
• Monthly amortization by constant principal installment plus interest (French system) and partial or total disbursements over a maximum of 24 months.
• Default interest: the current rate of the operation plus 6 percentage points.
• Guarantees: those considered sufficient at the discretion of the ICF.

The awarding procedure is on a non-competitive basis, in order of receipt of complete applications, until the allocation is exhausted. The contract must be formalized within a maximum of 90 days from the communication of the resolution.

PENTA zones and eligible sectors

The territorial scope comprises the municipalities located within a radius of up to 30 kilometers around the plants, within planning zones I and II of the External Nuclear Emergency Plan for the Ascó and Vandellòs nuclear power plants (PENTA):

• Zone I: all municipalities in its area of influence, such as Ascó, Flix, Móra d’Ebre, Móra la Nova, Corbera d’Ebre, Garcia, Tivissa, Vinebre, La Palma d’Ebre, La Torre de l’Espanyol, Riba-roja d’Ebre, L’Ametlla de Mar or Vandellòs i l’Hospitalet de l’Infant.
• Zone II: all municipalities with fewer than 12,000 inhabitants, including Falset, Gandesa, Batea, Miravet, Ginestar, Riudoms, Montbrió del Camp, Aitona, Seròs or Maials. The complete list is in the annex of the regulations.

Public administrations, the city councils of the included municipalities, and the county councils of PENTA Zones I and II cannot be beneficiaries. Projects must be dedicated to the creation, expansion, or improvement of economic activities and must align with the fund’s objectives. The admitted areas are:

• Reindustrialization and energy transition.
• Agri-food, including agriculture.
• Tourism and new technologies.
• Infrastructure, public transport, and housing.
• Health, education, and social services.

Applications and de minimis aid

Applications are submitted electronically via the ICF digital banking portal and can be presented from the day after the publication of the announcement in the DOGC until the line amount is exhausted. A project report, a CIRBE file without incidents, a bank map, a declaration of other aid, and the accounting and tax documentation for the last three fiscal years must be attached.

The aid regime complies with European de minimis and category exemption regulations, with the following limits per company:

• 300,000 euros over three years for the general de minimis regime (code BDNS 938801).
• 50,000 euros for the agricultural sector (BDNS 938803) and 40,000 euros for fishing and aquaculture (BDNS 938804).
• Maximum intensity of 20% for small enterprises and 10% for medium enterprises in investment aid for SMEs, with a ceiling of 8.25 million per project.
• Intensity of 15% in regional investment aid, with a ceiling of 12.38 million per project (BDNS 938802).

Parallelly, the same DOGC publishes the complementary subsidized line, with reference CVE-DOGC-A-26303032-2026, endowed with 10 million euros. This second route finances amounts between 150,000 and 1,500,000 euros, over 15 years with up to 2 years of grace period, and incorporates a subsidy of 2 percentage points on the principal borne by the Department of Enterprise and Labor. The announcement is signed in Barcelona, on October 27, 2026, by the managing director of the ICF, Vanessa Servera Planas.

In this line, the Generalitat is beginning to deploy its own financial instruments from the Nuclear Transition Fund, following the call for agricultural aid approved by Resolution ARP/3287/2026, of September 10. For small businesses and freelancers in the municipalities of Ascó, Vandellòs, la Ribera d’Ebre, el Priorat, la Terra Alta, les Garrigues, and el Segrià, this is the first credit line with preferential conditions to reindustrialize the territory before the closure of the power plants takes place.

Source: Official Gazette of the Generalitat de Catalunya (DOGC), no. 9789, November 6, 2026, Announcements section (official reference: CVE-DOGC-A-26303031-2026).