Spain closes half its coal-fired power stations

• 3 years ago (2020-07-01)
• David Flin

Coal 274 Europe 1061

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On June 30, Spain shut down eight of its 15 coal-fired power stations saying that they were unprofitable and to comply with European regulations on industrial emissions. The move comes 18 months after Spain closed down its last coal mines, although the country remains behind on its drive to embrace renewable energy. It also came as experts said that coal had reached its economic tipping point, where it was cheaper to build renewable energy sources than to continue operating coal-fired power stations.

Ana Barreira, Head of the International Institute for Law and the Environment (IIDMA) said: “It is cheaper today to produce energy with renewables than with coal.” She added that the remaining power stations could be closed down by 2025.

The decision was taken by the four Spanish electricity companies that own them – Naturgy , Iberdrola , Viesgo , and Endesa , a Spanish subsidiary of Italy’s Enel group – all of whom confirmed the closures. The aim was to avoid the cost of bringing the plants up to date to comply with a European directive on cleaning up their emissions.

These power stations had a combined capacity of 5.16GW, and their closure will more than halve Spain’s coal-fired output, reducing it to 4.7GW.