The scheduled closure of the three active nuclear power plants in Catalonia (Ascó I, Ascó II and Vandellós II) represents a ““risk of energy shortage” for the industry. In other words: a “nuclear blackout” in the region would lead to an “industrial blackout.” This was warned this Wednesday by the president of Promotion of Treball, Josep Sánchez Llibrein a meeting with different authorities of the European Commission in Brussels, specifically from the directorates general of Energy and Environment.
To avoid this situation, the Catalan employers proposes extending the useful life by a decade of the reactors located in Tarragona. Promotion recalled that reactors can extend their production cycle and be renewed in periods of ten years.
Sánchez Llibre has agreed with the representatives of the Commission that “energy needs a vision of the future.” But it has influenced that Catalonia has a renewable energy mix that barely reaches 7%very far from the Spanish average of 50.3%. The employers understand that nuclear energy can continue to supply the industry while the implementation of alternatives such as wind and solar energy is developed.
“It is important to keep in mind the energy trilemma: guarantee and security of supply, economic competitiveness and environmental sustainability. The competitiveness of the industry must be promoted with reforms that affect the energy market, since, if not, the industry will only be relocated, which is a real risk,” the business organization indicated.
“Catalonia has been based above all on domestic electrification, but the industrial energy transition. Catalonia is today incapable of meeting the energy transition objectives determined by the EU for 2030,” the employers’ association lamented.
Economic broken in Tarragona
It is not the first time that Promotion sounds the alarm about the atomic blackout in Catalonia. If the calendar agreed between the operators and the administration is not modified, Ascó I will be the first center to end its operations in 2030. It will be followed by Ascó II in 2033 and Vandellós II in 2035. The latter is the youngest operating in Spain along with that of Trillo (Guadalajara).
The three reactors provide Catalonia with 58% of the energy consumed by individuals and companies. Each of them provides just over 1 GW of electricity. Last year, only 16% of electricity generation in the community came from renewables. On the other hand, the Tarragona nuclear power plants generated 7.4 GWh on average for each megawatt installed, a performance six times higher than that of photovoltaic plants.
Furthermore, it is estimated that the nuclear shutdown will mean the disappearance of about 3,000 direct and indirect jobs. In fact, the Generalitat has been reinforcing the call for years Nuclear Transition Fund to cushion the loss of economic activity in the affected municipalities.
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