2023-05-10 19:23:15
The decision of the Government central demolish the dams of the Valdecaballeros reservoir (Badajoz) has raised a huge stir due to complaints from the Junta de Extremadura, the councils of the nearby municipalities and the residents of the area. Also fed by the alarm caused by drought and for the general debate on the dismantling of dams and reservoirs in other areas of spain.
They also fully add to the controversy Endesa e Iberdrolathe electric companies that shared the concession for the use of the dams that were designed to cool the two reactors that the company was going to integrate. Valdecaballeros nuclear power plant not bornwhich never worked affected by the moratorium approved in the eighties by the Government of Felipe González.
The two energy companies presented separate appeals a few weeks ago before the Secretary of State for the Environment to stop the decision of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition to undertake the demolition of the reservoir, as confirmed by sources from both companies to EL PERIÓDICO DE ESPAÑA, from the Prensa Ibérica group. These are two different appeals but with identical wording and that were presented simultaneously.
The ministerial order also contemplates that Endesa and Iberdrola are the ones that assume the cost of the collapse works and management of all waste from the facilities. An old valuation of these works calculated that the amount of the investments would be around 10 million euros, although the companies estimate that the current cost would be much higher. The resources of the electric companies request precautionary measures to stop the mandatory order to prepare and present to the Executive in less than six months the project of demolition works.
The General Directorate of Water, attached to the ministry commanded by Vice President Teresa Ribera, issued a resolution last month that established the mandatory demolition of the Valdecaballeros dam. Endesa and Iberdrola renounced the concession for the private use of water in 2021and the Government has now undertaken the process for the collapse of the reservoir and the total recovery of the Guadalupejo river -of the Guadiana hydrographic basin- as it passes through the municipality of Badajoz.
Who is the owner and who pays?
After the 1984 nuclear moratorium decreed by the González Socialist Executive, the construction works of the Valdecaballeros nuclear power plant were halted in 1991 and in 1994 the definitive suspension of the project was established. For 25 years, all Spanish consumers have been paying a surcharge on their electricity bill to compensate the electricity companies for the stoppage of the Valdecaballeros and Lemoniz power plants.
Endesa and Iberdrola argue in their appeals that since 1994 de facto the Government has been the owner of the land and facilities that remain standing (abandoned buildings that were going to house the two reactors) and the dams that were going to be used to cool the plant, and that during these thirty years the companies have only carried out mere custody work of the lands. So, if the Executive finally orders its demolition, the costs of the work must be assumed by the Ministry or Enresa, the public company in charge of managing nuclear waste and dismantling the plants.
In addition, Endesa and Iberdrola consider that the demolition order can be considered to be retroactive, because the legislation in force when the works on the plant were halted (and in their opinion they ceded ownership) only established that the concession of the private use of water simply reversed to the Administration at the expiration of the term of validity, but later a legal reform allows to demand the demolition for public interest.
In any case, the two companies defend the maintenance of the facilities in their resources, understanding that there is no justification provided by the Government that explains why it is now unfeasible to maintain the dams 30 years after paralyzing the nuclear works for which they were they were going to use and that the Executive has not carried out a previous study of the environmental impact of the demolition in the area.
The government begins to back down
The Junta de Extremadura has already presented its own appeal before the Ministry to try to paralyze the decision and maintain the dam for not having been previously consulted about the dismantling, violating environmental legislation for affecting areas of the Red Natura 2000 and because it can generate “supply problems” for nearby municipalities, since they have water intakes -not regularized- for local supply.
After the protests of the Junta, of the nearby town halls and of the residents of the area, the Ministry for the ecological transition It has begun to back down and has shown itself open to rectifying the demolition decision given the interest of the administrations for its maintenance and to use it for the water supply. Vice President Teresa Ribera herself pointed out this Wednesday in Congress that it is “perfectly possible” to meet the will of the Board and that there are contacts with the regional administration to study the “way” of executing it. For now, the order remains in effect and there is no formal decision to revoke it.
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