The Popular Party has signed up somewhat parliamentary in its struggle to extend the life of the seven Spanish nuclear power plants and modify the ordered closing calendar signed in 2018, the electricity owners of the Park and La, which begins in 2027 and ends in 2035. The popular have managed to carry out a non -law proposition (NLP) to modify this calendar and thanks to the support of Vox and a UPN deputy and the abstention of the Catalan, Junts and ERC nationalist parties, concerned about the future of the three reactors located in Catalonia and that cover 60% of the demand for the territory. Specifically, it has come forward for 171 votes (of the 349 cast).
The PP would have enough Juns’ support to achieve the majority, but finally this party has opted for abstention, to avoid “another explicit support to the PP”, according to political sources, but with the clear intention that the proposition will be ahead. Finally, ERC has joined, a little suspicious formation of being pronuclear.
The NLP, which the PP presented last October, was discussed Tuesday at the Plenary of Congress and forced the rest of the matches to set positions. Although it has no regulatory value, with the majority obtained, the government is urged to review the orderly closing calendar. ” Although it is a political statement, the result is an oxygen ball for the lobby Nuclear, which has dusted the machinery to the proximity of the first closures, those of the two groups of the Almaraz Central, in Cáceres, in 2027 and 2028.
PP deputy Guillermo Mariscal linked Tuesday’s debate with the mass demonstration of January 18 in favor of the continuity of the Center Cacereña, the first on the list according to the dates agreed between the electric companies (mostly according to Mariscal, Teresa Ribera He then dictated, being a minister for the ecological transition, “the death sentence of the Spanish centrals”, while now, in her new role as European Vice President of Competition, the European Commission “presents a new nuclear energy program: the PSOE defends It was what attacks inside, ”he said.
For the PP it is necessary not to depend on Russian gas: “We are the only country that has decided to close it, the Executive proposes anything; which makes us hostages of Putin, ”Mariscal criticized. The first opposition party, which has found in this initiative the unconditional support of Vox, has appealed to the delicate situation in Catalonia to achieve the support of the Catalan nationalists. In economic matters, “Junts follows the slogans of the Catalan employer, Foment del Treball”, which does not hide its concern for the closure of Ascó and Vandellós and that has publicly requested the modification of the closing calendar.
In the debate, Vox deputy Ricardo Chamorro said we do not need EU reports to know that the measure harms the industry ”, as electrical prices will make it more expensive. The spokesman for the ultra -right party spoke that only “eco -phaanatic and psychopaths can renounce nuclear energy”, which for now has no substitute. In addition, “it is considered green energy in European taxonomy,” he said after asking for the cancellation of the closing calendar, which ends in 2035 with the closing of Trillo.
The rest of the formations opposed their modification and claimed more renewable. Only Pilar Calvo, from Junts, did not enter into ideological wandering (“It is not about nuclear or nuclear,” he said) and expressed concern about the consequences of the closure of Catalan plants. “We will depend on France, paradoxically, on its nuclear energy, or Aragon.” In this regard, he pointed out that neither batteries nor storage have been developed, which puts Catalonia against the ropes, where half of the population consumes energy of nuclear origin. In short, the closure would imply risks and problems to guarantee the supply in a community where the development of renewables is lagging behind.
“We need more renewables in Catalonia and that the government does their homework and starts building energy storage facilities and has not yet done so, which puts the Catalan industries and consumers against the ropes.” or assume risks of lack of supply, ”he insisted, after remembering that NLP is not binding but the nuclear dependence of Catalonia” politically links us when looking for solutions. “
The PP initiative has arrived in full clash between the Government and the Executive Extremadura for the closure of the Almaraz Central. According to NLP, nuclear energy “contributes to the energy autonomy of Spain, reduces the dependence of external energy sources and, therefore, the vulnerability to the fluctuations of the international market.” To this end, the government is urgent that facilitates the “economic sustainability” of nuclear facilities (although it does not specify how) and that the role of this technology in the energy transition is reflected.
It also advocates promoting a dialogue committed to the municipalities, deputations and autonomous communities that would be affected by the closure with the various economic sectors that would also suffer its impact. The National Commission of Markets and Competition (CNMC) and the system operator Electric, Electric Red, to evaluate the economic impact of the programmed nuclear closure, as well as the implications for the guarantee of the supply, attending to the new forecasts contained in the review of the National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan (PNIEC).
