On 1 January 2022, Madrid says adios to coal boilers

Diesel-powered ones are set to be halved by 2027

The Madrid 360 Environmental Sustainability Strategy prohibits the use of coal boilers for heating systems in the Spanish capital, starting 1 January. That means that the city’s residents will enter the new year with an air that is one idea cleaner than the previous one. With that Madrid is saying no to solid fossil fuels as a source of heating and it eyes doing the same for other fossil fuels as well, with diesel boilers being slated to be reduced by 50% in 2027.

The local government is shouldering the transition with a subsidy program

In order to facilitate the transition towards efficient low-emission air conditioning systems, the Madrid City Council launched in 2020 the first line of Cambia 360 aid for the replacement of boilers. Last year alone it was possible to meet the demand for thermal comfort of more than 3,100 families and reduce their heating bills since the new facilities consume at least 20% less energy. 

The total number of households using coal boilers for heating was not mentioned by the municipal website, but it was explained that a little more than over 25 million euros have gone into grants subsidizing the transition for 2020 and 2021, with another 4.5 million euros earmarked for next year to finish the job.

The complete elimination of coal boilers and the previewed reduction in diesel boilers will reduce nitrogen oxides (NOx) in the atmosphere by 90 tonnes per year. But that is not all that the Cambia 360 program has subsidized in order to make the Spanish capital’s air cleaner.

There were also the subsidies for the renewal of private vehicles fleet (5.5 million euros); for urban commercial distribution vehicles (2 million euros); a reserve for the acquisition of micromobility vehicles - bicycles, motorcycles and electric scooters (500,000 euros); for the installation of electric recharging infrastructures (2 million euros), and the subsidies for the change of fleets and direct aid for the taxi industry (11.3 million euros in 2020 and 2021).