SEVILLA, 23 Ene. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Board of Directors of the Center for Industrial Technological Development (CDTI), under the Ministry of Science and Innovation, has approved a total of 123 R&D operations in Andalusia in 2010, with a budget of more than 107.1 million euros and a contribution from the CDTI of more than 75.8 million euros.
According to the information provided by said entity to Europa Press, Andalusia has accumulated six percent of the RD initiatives and Neotec grants approved at the national level throughout the year. Thus, at the national level, a total of 2,120 business RD initiatives were approved, which have a direct financing commitment, between subsidies and credits, of 1,240 million.
In this sense, the Andalusian projects have covered a multitude of areas of application of innovation and new technologies, with applications both in energy or renewable energy, such as construction, infrastructure, agriculture, health, biotechnology, or Information Technology and Communications, aeronautics or the environment, among others.
In energy matters, the projects on hybrid electric propulsion of Iturri or Militartecnologie Dienst und Uberwachung stand out; the evaluation of the water footprint of solar energy from Zeroemissions Technologies; or the study of CO2 reduction, capture and fixation processes at Inerco thermal power plants.
Regarding its application in construction, there are initiatives such as eco-efficient air conditioning in public buildings in Azvi or the energy rehabilitation of educational buildings in Andalusia, by Tino Stone or Acciona. There are also initiatives for the treatment of residual water, such as Acciona Agua or Mac Puar Medio Ambiente; or the control of urban seismic risk, proposed by Decisiones Geoconstructivas.
Likewise, the creation of an intelligent health risk prevention system was promoted based on distributed electronic medical records, from the Technological Network of Health Care Services; or the initiatives related to lighting systems with alternative energies in road tunnels or the development of carbon fiber railway catenaries, both from Montealto I D I.
Likewise, there are projects such as the synthesis of flavoring substances, by Deretil; the study of the applications of glycerin from the production of biodiesel in pig and beef feed, from Piensos Garla; the genetic improvement for the resistance of peppers against new viral isolates, Zeta Seeds; or the improvement of the organoleptic quality of the orange juice, from Zumos Palma. In addition, initiatives for the production of biodegradable plastics from industrial waste, from Befesa, or the development of ‘Itelligent’, advanced intelligence services, from Itelligent Information Technologies, are being developed.
In general terms, the financing of R&D projects is carried out through partially reimbursable grants at a zero interest rate that can cover up to 75 percent of the total budget of the project and with a non-reimbursable part (on the credit granted) that It can go up to 15 percent in the event that these projects are developed by individual companies.
Likewise, it will reach up to 25 percent when it is subcontracted to research organizations and up to 33 percent in the event that these projects are carried out through a consortium of companies or come from international cooperation. For the repayment of the aid there is a grace period of two to three years and a repayment period of up to ten years.
The CDTI is placing special emphasis on promoting consortium projects and manages a large part of the Technological Fund, a special item of FEDER funds from the European Union dedicated to promoting business R&D in Spain.
With the projects approved by this Council, there are already 1,594 initiatives supported with co-financing from the Technology Fund to date. By zones, the initiatives approved in the Competitiveness zones (former ‘Objective 2’ regions) amount to 693, representing 43 percent of the total and 41 percent of the public contribution granted. Those approved in the remaining areas (former ‘Objective 1’ regions) amount to 901 initiatives and represent 59 percent of the public contribution granted.