2023-11-11 05:15:00
The German Government has agreed to lower the price of electricity for industry over the next five years, a measure that will especially benefit companies with intensive energy consumption and that try to avoid relocations. The plan is valued at 28,000 million euros and will reduce the production costs of sectors of the German industry with which the Asturian industry competes, such as the steel industry.
The final price of electricity currently paid by the German industry is already lower than that paid by the Spanish industry – almost 29% according to the latest price barometer from the AEGE employers’ association – and the German plan also comes at a time when the industry Asturiana looks with uncertainty towards the end of the year, when the exceptional measures to reduce energy costs in Spain expire (such as the temporary suspension of the tax on the value of electricity production or the 80% reduction in the cost of access tolls to the transport and distribution networks for the electro-intensive industry – At the moment, the Government of Spain has not guaranteed their continuity.
The German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, and the heads of Economy, Robert Habeck, and Finance, Christian Lindner, agreed to regulate by law for 2024 and 2025 the reduction of the electricity tax for the industry from the current 15.37 euros per megawatt/hour (MWh) to the minimum contemplated by the European Union of 0.50 euros/MWh. They also agreed that the reduction be applied for another three years, as long as between 2026 and 2028 the financing can be offset in the federal budget. In addition, the plan includes a one-time payment of 5.5 billion in 2024 to reduce the rates that companies pay to electricity network managers.
EDP begins the environmental procedures for the conversion to gas of the Aboño thermal power plant
EDP Spain has initiated the environmental evaluation procedures at the Ministry for the Ecological Transition for the conversion to gas of coal group 2 of the Aboño thermal power plant. The plan involves prolonging the life of this electrical installation, which is key to the energy system of Asturias. Last month, EDP and Corporación Masaveu signed an agreement to reconvert group 2 of Aboño so that, starting in 2025, when its closure was scheduled, it can continue operating but consuming gas instead of coal. EDP and Corporación Masaveu will have joint ownership of the facility (50% each) and will invest 40 million euros to adapt the facilities. Ana Paula Marques, CEO of EDP Spain, pointed out that the conversion works of the thermal power plant will be awarded at the beginning of 2024 and that the facility is expected to be operational consuming natural gas in July 2025 with an installed power of 500 megawatts. EDP Spain has already initiated the necessary environmental procedures for the transformation of the facilities. On November 5, the project to convert group 2 of the Aboño thermal power plant to gas was submitted to the Ministry for the Ecological Transition for its environmental evaluation. The other group at the Aboño plant, group 1, which is the oldest, will be closed in 2025. EDP has already requested authorization for closure. Furthermore, on the Aboño lands the energy company plans to build the so-called Asturian Green Hydrogen Valley, in which Corporación Masaveu may participate with up to 10%.
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