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Alberto Núñez Feijóo is the leader of Partido Popular in Spain. He recently made a commitment to extend the lifespan of the country’s seven nuclear power plants. Teresa Ribera is the Spanish Ecological Transition Minister. She said last Tuesday that Feijóo commitment is a political slogan and a tricky message. She went on to say, “It is not enough with a slogan it is not enough to say: ‘I extend’, at whose expense, who pays, the State, the consumers? Because at the end of the day that is the implicit message.”
On last Monday, Feijóo proposed that, if the PP wins the general election on the 23rd of July, the planned dismantling of the seven Spanish nuclear power plants will be canceled and their lifespans extended.
In the view of Ribera, Feijóo’s proposal is a political tactic marked by the upcoming election campaign which begins next week.
Pedro Sánchez is the current Spanish Prime Minister. He asked the PP leader who would pay the enormous priced that would be involved in implementing Feijóo proposal. Sanchez said in a recent interview, “The question the PP is not answering is: Who will pay for it: the citizens or the State?” Because if you look at the energy sector in the long term, the cost of producing electricity by nuclear power is much more expensive than renewables. They will have to explain who will pay.”
The Socialist Prime Minister recalled that Minister Ribera agreed in 2019 with the companies that own the Spanish nuclear power plants on a schedule for closure until 2025. He regretted that Feijóo did not make “any proposal on energy linked to the ecological transition”.
The plan approved by the Socialist government in 2019 states that the closure of the seven Spanish nuclear power plants would take place in several stages. It will run from 2027 until 2035 by which time all the plants would be shut down. The closure plan for the nuclear power plants would follow the schedule of the Almaraz I in 2027, the Almarex II in 2028, the Ascó I and Cofrentes in 2030, the Ascó II in 2032 and the Vandellós II and Trillo in 2035.
Ribera is number 2 on the PSOE’s list for Madrid for the July 23rd general election. She said that the promise made by Feijóo is a “trick message”. Ribera recalled that it was the nuclear companies that managed the nuclear power plants themselves that “at the time reached an agreement to (set) a timetable for closure (until 2035)”. The Spanish government is willing to invest in nuclear safety but not to extend by a few years the lifespan of the nuclear plants.
Ribera said, “We are not prepared to invest large sums of money for something that has a limited lifespan, which, if it is exceeded in time, requires a much larger amount than we are prepared to maintain.” On the other hand, she assured that “what is most appropriate for this country, with affordable, stable, predictable (energy) prices for consumers, but also with returns for investors, are renewable (energy) solutions”.
Ribera concluded that “Spain is rich in renewable (energy) alternatives, and it is rich in human capital, in will, in companies and societies that know how to take advantage of the opportunities for innovation, employment and industry linked to renewables. We have become a very important focus of attraction for investment.”