Banco Sabadell | According to press reports, the electricity companies have submitted a proposal to MITECO (Ministry for Ecological Transition) to revise the nuclear calendar, which involves maintaining the final closure date of 2035 and extending the planned intermediate deadlines. The proposal includes, among other things, the intention to request the Nuclear Safety Council (CSN) to extend the two Almaraz reactors (Iberdrola 52.7%; Endesa 36%; Naturgy 11.3%) until 2030 (as opposed to 2027/2028), a request that must be formalised before March 2026. Although the companies would be willing to waive their claim for a reduction in the Enresa tax, with an extension for Almaraz until 2030, the tax would be reduced from the current €10.3/MWh to €8.5/MWh, (18% less), as the amount to be collected would be divided by a greater number of megawatts in the years added to its useful life and would not constitute illegal state aid by the European Union. The final decision would be made by MITECO, which does not seem willing to discuss the matter for three years.
Assessment: Although we have yet to see what MITECO says, this is positive news because it would keep 2GW of the total 7.3GW of nuclear power in production and would be the spearhead for rethinking the timetable for phasing out this energy source. However, in the medium term, in order to postpone the closure beyond 2035, it would be necessary, among other things, to provide some compensation or tax relief for producers. We would point out that in some cases, high taxes on nuclear production account for up to 40% of total operating costs.
