Government Walks Back Nuclear Plant Tax Increase and Proposes a Slower Tare Rise
The government has reversed course and moved to ease the planned rise in the tax paid by nuclear plants. The Ministry for Ecological Transition halted the legal process to implement a 40% increase in the surcharge and now presents a new proposal that envisions a 30% boost in the tax.
In a ministerial order unveiled by Vice President Teresa Ribera at a morning briefing, the plan lowers the previously steep increase intended to fund the multi‑billion‑euro costs of dismantling reactors, building seven nuclear waste dumps, and managing radioactive waste for decades.
The big electricity companies—Endesa, Iberdrola, Naturgy and EDP—had reacted strongly, filing objections and pursuing a Supreme Court challenge against the government’s plan for the National Nuclear Waste Plan and against the decision to abandon the Villar de Cañas storage project in Cuenca.
The Ecological Transition Ministry had begun this January to push a rise in the non‑tax patrimonial charge that nuclear producers pay, up to 11.14 euros per megawatt hour (MWh) of power produced, which is 39.5% above the current 7.98 euros per MWh. The current proposal reduces this rate to 10.36 euros per MWh, about 29.8% higher than today.
Government officials justify the lower update by noting that the cumulative funds in the Enresa fund — funded by the electric companies’ cash contributions — exceed earlier estimates (rising from 7.4 billion to more than 7.7 billion) and that actual inflation has been lower than initially forecast.
Annual Toll Sees a 135 Million Increase
Nuclear plants pay a non‑tax patrimonial payment to Enresa, the national radioactive waste agency, based on the electricity they produce. In total, depending on annual output, the owner companies of the plants (primarily Endesa and Iberdrola, with smaller stakes held by Naturgy and EDP) contribute roughly 450 million euros per year to a fund that finances the radioactive waste plan, which currently holds about 7.7 billion euros.
The proposed increase would lift annual payments to almost 585 million euros, about 135 million more than current levels, though still below the previous estimate of 630 million a year.
Power Companies Fight Back
The major utilities have openly opposed any rise in the tax, following a near 20% hike imposed four years earlier. They are pressing to block the increase for several years. The nuclear industry association, Foro Nuclear, which represents the four plant owners, is now seeking to curb the rise and extend the timeline of the adjustment.
The industry groups and the utilities argued that the government should not present a new royal decree to raise the Enresa rate until the Supreme Court rules on their challenges to the Waste Plan and the Villar de Cañas decision. They say this would delay the rate review by at least two years, given the court’s typical schedule in these cases.
The companies argue that the government’s plan to raise the rate is driven by the new waste plan and the termination of the Villar de Cañas project, and they refuse to bear roughly 2 billion euros of overcosts that stem from political and institutional disagreements about locating a single interim storage facility. They insist on waiting for the Supreme Court ruling on their cases before any rate increase is applied.
Meanwhile, the major utilities are pressing for a comprehensive reform of the taxes paid by nuclear plants to avoid the sharp Enresa rate hike. Foro Nuclear seeks to channel the large revenue from the tax on spent nuclear fuel and waste away from general state coffers and into Enresa’s own fund to pay for plant dismantling and waste management. It also calls for Enresa to cease paying a special tax on its nuclear facilities, which would in turn lower charges to the plants.
Under the government of Mariano Rajoy, both taxes were created in 2012. Since then, the nuclear plants have paid about 3.1 billion euros for the fuel and waste tax, with roughly 1.9 billion euros still to be paid until Spain’s planned 2035 nuclear shutdown. Enresa has paid around 148 million euros for waste storage, with another roughly 1.277 billion expected to be funded by the plants as volumes rise. The plants contend that directing these funds to the Waste Plan could remove the need for the proposed tax increases (neither the initial 40% nor the current 30% rise would be required).