Post by taskiyaislam1256 on Mar 11, 2024 5:39:39 GMT -4
we are going to close the coal plants On January the obligation to purchase Spanish mineral ends. This leads to the closure of the mines in Asturias, León, Aragón... Soto de Ribera thermal power plant, in Asturias. Soto de Ribera thermal power plant, in Asturias. The most important electricity companies in the country have informed José Manuel Soria that they will be forced to close the coal-fired power plants if the Ministry of Industry does not approve a long-term plan that makes profitable the enormous investments that the European Union now forces them to make. . This is a new clash between the electricity companies and the ministry led by José Manuel Soria . Although the companies recognize that the problems that arose in the past due to the regulation of the electricity sector have been overcome, they also warn of a new front that could put the coal sector and the miners on a war footing .
The trigger is a date: on December 31, the obligation of electricity companies to buy Spanish coal to supply the ten thermal power plants that exist in the country ends. The mandatory quota for 2014 was 7.67 million tons, which come from the mines of Asturias and León, mainly, but also from Aragon. These plants burn Spanish coal to generate electricity and another part is imported. Last year, 15 % of the light consumed in Spain was produced by this mineral. Spanish coal, threatened UK Mobile Number List That production is in danger. The Government has not been able to articulate a measure that replaces the obligation for electricity companies to buy Spanish coal. The reason is the surveillance exercised by the European Union, which threatens to consider this premise as state aid. Therefore, starting in January 2015, electricity companies will be free to buy coal wherever they want .[OBJECT] “There is talk that starting in January, companies will no longer have to buy Spanish coal; We can close bilateral agreements with whoever we want,” they say from an electricity company.
The point is that foreign coal is cheaper than Spanish coal, so we have already informed the ministry that we are free and that we do not guarantee that we will buy Spanish coal ,” these sources explain. There are barely two and a half months until the end of the year and a very conflictive sector is at stake that still employs more than 3,000 people . “We have no response from the ministry. They're just working on it. But time is of the essence,” they say from another electricity company. Closing of plants In addition to the Spanish coal mines, the power plants themselves that run on this mineral are at stake . Endesa, Iberdrola, Gas Natural, E.ON... the main companies based in Spain have plants of this type and have also warned the Government of closing them if there is no plan for the sector before 2018. That is the deadline that the European Union has put on the table to adapt these plants to European environmental requirements . They must reduce sulfur and nitrogen oxide emissions by between 50 and 60%. “Adapting these plants can cost more than 1,000 million euros . How are we going to invest that money if we do not know the legal framework in which the sector is going to operate because the Government has not designed it?” they ask from an electricity company.