End saturday 1 october was included and entered into force. cogeneration –additional power plants that generate heat and electricity from gas and sell the surplus to the market–‘Iberian exception‘. This measure, announced by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez at the beginning of September, during the discussion of the legislative decree on austerity measures in the Crown, Senate, purposes reactivate around 400 stopped plants in the last four months due to high gas prices. Half (600) of the total number of factories in Spain benefited from this mechanism, but only a third of the factories that were stopped restarted their production, depending on the industry. Another third predict they will return to operations in the coming weeks, while the remainder you will not be able to return to your activity unless there is a new “regulatory framework” as they denounced during XVIII Annual Cogeneration Congressheld this Tuesday in Madrid.
Specifically, the affected factories are smaller ones as well as olive groves and slurry factories located on the islands that cannot benefit from the ‘Iberian exception’ and have to face rapidly rising gas prices. The industry is pushing State confirm the fee “this month” slopes“especially those of the present era” and “new methodology“To update the operation fee for 2023 and beyond, as claimed by the president of the Spanish Cogeneration Association (Welcome), Ruben Hernando In his speech at the congress;
cogeneration a regulated sectorso the Government is fixed fee based The gas price is added to the price of their sales in the market to ensure that the factories cover their costs. Sánchez announced in the Senate that the salary will be changed to add some to the current amount (665 million euros). 1,000 million euros more. offer in the processafter completing the public disclosure phase one month ago, and guess natural gas supply cost “only” European market referencesBut it hasn’t been confirmed yet.
“The publication of the pending compensation of all industries with cogeneration revoke yours as soon as possible Operating costs Y re-enable production levelsfurther reducing consumption natural gas boosting the country’s and industrial economy and related employment”, added Hernando.
supply security
this decrease in production Cogeneration is important because it involves the use of more coal and above all, gaswhich in addition increase the consumption of this raw material, at a time when all European countries are trying to reduce it, and raises electricity prices. The return of cogeneration is actually one of the basic conditions along with the new demand management mechanism. Electricity Grid According to a report, in order to permanently shut down the As Pontes coal plant, Ministry of Ecological Transition to be prepared worst case scenario in the coming months.
According to the third vice president and minister for Ecological Transition, Theresa RiveraWhen the ‘Iberian exception’ is approved for these plants, re-commissioning of the discontinued cogeneration plants, savings that can reach 1.2% of daily natural gas demand. To get an idea, if it’s usual to assume cogeneration is around 10% of generation mixfrom June This rate has almost halved. enter the summer months with its presence between 4% and 3% of the total. In these first days of October, cogeneration, 5% of total electricity generation resources, according to Red Eléctrica. According to employers of the sector, production has accelerated since last weekend, the first weekend when the ‘Iberian exception’ was implemented, but still continues. 42% activity compared to last year.
new auctions
Another of the demands of the sector is, call for auctions. Ministry Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge released at the end of last year public information Within the framework of calls for a 1,200 megawatt cogeneration tender by 2024. The initial bid is targeted for a total of 351 megawatts this year; Second with 442 megawatts in 2023 and third with 407 megawatts in 2024. However, no tender has been opened so far.
Source: Informacion
Christina Moncayo is a contributing writer for “Social Bites”. Her focus is on the gaming industry and she provides in-depth coverage of the latest news and trends in the world of gaming.