Spain’s main electricity providers have reached an agreement to renew the life of the country’s oldest nuclear plant until its planned closure, the company operating the site said on Friday. The Almaraz plant in Western Spain hosts the first two nuclear reactors slated for closure in a calendar which foresees all seven in the country going offline between 2027 and 2035. Phasing out nuclear power, which provides about a fifth of Spain’s electricity, is part of a package of energy market proposals that was one of the last initiatives of the Socialist government before parliament was dissolved before a general election next month. A disagreement between Almaraz’s owners, Iberdrola, Endesa and Naturgy, over how much to invest to keep the plant running rumbled on close to a March 31 licence renewal deadline, putting the plant at risk of an earlier closure. The firms will now apply to keep the site’s two reactors running until 2027 and 2028 respectively, on condition they will spend no more than 600 million euros (517 million pounds) in total on the units, three sources with knowledge of the talks said.
Reuters 22nd March 2019 read more »
