Government prepares for multimillion-dollar increase in nuclear rates

The final version of the new PGRR envisages the construction of seven different warehouses for the storage of waste in Spain, one at each nuclear power plant. Waste will remain in each facility for decades Phased closures planned between 2027 and 2035, until it is transferred to a future deep geological repository (AGP) whose location has been chosen, which is still in the design phase and will not, in principle, become operational until 2073.

In recent years the Government has kept alive two alternatives for what to do with the highly radioactive waste from the facilities: transporting and storing it all in a central temporary repository (ATC) for several decades (this was the option pursued for many years). with the idea of ​​locating it in Villar de Cañas in Cuenca or building seven decentralized temporary warehouses (ATDs) in the country.

Given the lack of political and social consensus and the fact that no autonomous community ultimately wants to host a large national nuclear cemetery, The government chose the option of seven warehouses. A more expensive route that requires much larger investment: Option to build seven cemeteries requires further investment of around 2 billion euros, Up to 19.244 million by 2100. An extra cost that would force a multimillion-dollar increase in the rates that nuclear power plants pay to finance the management of their radioactive waste and the dismantling of the facilities.

25% increase

Nuclear power plants pay National Radioactive Waste Company (Enresa) Non-tax capital assistance – that’s the correct name – of 7.98 euros for every megawatt hour (MWh) of electricity they produce. In total, electricity companies owning nuclear power plants (E) depending on the final volume of annual electricityndesa and Iberdrolamainly and with the remaining contributions Nature and EDPWe pay around ) An average of 450 million euros per year to the fund Currently, approximately 7.5 billion accumulated radioactive waste schemes are funded.

Expected cost overruns in future PGRR to be approved soon, 25% increase at this rate to around 10 euros per MWhAs confirmed by many sources in the nuclear sector, from the Prensa Ibérica group to El Periódico de España. Increase that will increase the payments made by nuclear power plants every year up to approximately 570 million euros, i.e. 120 million more than current payments. The Ministry of Ecological Transition, which was tasked with approving this increase in the nuclear rate, chose not to comment on the future increase.

Increasing rate predictions

In 2019, the government reached an agreement with major electricity companies to phase out all nuclear power plants between 2027 and 2035. In this protocol, it was decided to increase the price paid by companies for electricity by a maximum of 20%. This led the Manager to increase the rate by: currently applied is 7.98 euros per MWh produced. A fee that was later deemed sufficient to cover the costs of managing nuclear waste and building a central temporary repository.

Enresa, the public company responsible for the management of radioactive waste in Spain, prepared the first draft of a new general plan for radioactive waste in 2020; where only the option of building a single ATC was considered and its financial memory maintains this rate of 7,98 Euros per MWh. The next version of the plan prepared by Enresa and submitted to the public hearing included two alternatives: building a single ATC or building seven warehouses across the country. It will either be increased to 8.1 euros per MWh or increased to 9.6 euros per MWh.

In the last known version of the PGRR, the construction of only seven depots was already considered and The required capital benefit will be 9.7 euros per MWh. Each year, Enresa prepares an update of the financial forecasts linked to improving long-term waste management, and in its last report last June it raised its estimate of the required rate up to 10.15 euros per MWh, According to knowledgeable business sources.

Nuclear companies predict that the Government will eventually make a slight adjustment to this amount (due to lower than anticipated inflation at the time this forecast was made) and approve an increase in payments to around 10 euros per MWh.

Official Enresa sources consulted by this newspaper emphasize that in permanent meetings with the plant owners, technical issues, the general costs of the PGRR and the investments that each facility must cover, but not the fee amount, are discussed. In every situation, Financial forecasts prepared by Enresa are not binding The decision regarding the amount of benefit applied to nuclear power plants is Exclusive jurisdiction of the Ministry of Ecological Transition.

Reflect the cost on the electricity bill

The major electricity companies, owners of Spanish nuclear power plants, have shown their refusal to take on higher costs than those envisaged in previous versions of the future PGRR and have criticized the possibility of the Government increasing the rate companies pay to finance the costs. Facility closure plan and waste management. This is how observations were collected on the draft PGRR sent to the Ministry of Ecological Transition by the Committee on Nuclear Energy (CEN), which groups Endesa, Iberdrola, Naturgy and EDP as owners of the reactors located in Spain. The newspaper reported..

Endesa, Iberdrola, Naturgy and EDP attribute these extra costs to the enormous delay of the former ATC construction project in Villar de Cañas in Cuenca, caused by a lack of political and institutional consensus, and therefore refuse to assume them. The suggestion included in the claim reports of major electricity companies is that these additional amounts should be considered as the cost of the electricity system and reflected in the electricity tariff paid by all consumers. The capital benefit paid by nuclear power plants is not in any case a tax figure, but rather an additional operating cost of the facilities themselves (bearing the costs of managing the nuclear waste they produce) and is expressed as: Enresa.

Companies in the nuclear sector complain that in recent years they have experienced profitability problems due to tax burdens and ownership benefits borne by power plants, which cost around 25 euros per MWh of electricity produced. Their usual claims against administrations include the reduction of tax liabilities and, more recently, the implementation of certain formulas that guarantee reasonable profitability to utilities, such as long-term contracts that establish stable prices with the electricity system. The system compensates electricity companies if the market price is lower than the agreed price, and nuclear companies refund the excess if the price is high) or through a capacity-related payment mechanism, which means power plants are compensated with a certain fee. as it is always available and ensures stability in electricity production.