In 2010 the Spanish Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade, other State authorities and the Parliament passed a raft of measures in the field of energy, including our selection of the most significant set out below from among those not specifically dealing with gas, which will be covered by the chapter dedicated to gas in Spain.
They are set out in chronological order.
- CNE ruling establishing the implementation of the procedure for the presentation of self-assessment and payment conditions for fees established in Act 34/1998, pursuant to the electricity and gaseous hydrocarbons sectors. (Official State Bulletin, 2.2.2010).
- Ruling establishing the average energy price applicable when calculating the remuneration for the management of the interruptibility of the demand offered by consumers acquiring energy on the production market during the first quarter of 2010.
- Royal Decree 134/2010, establishing the settlement procedure for the resolution of restrictions by guaranteeing the supply and modifying Royal Decree 2019/1997, which organizes and governs the market for electricity generation (Official State Bulletin, 27.2.2010).
Said Royal Decree, which endorsed a procedure to encourage the use of Spanish coal in thermal power plants, was amended by Royal Decree 134/2010 (Official State Bulletin 2.10.2010), which is also quoted. Section 2 of the Annex 3 of Royal Decree 134/2010 published on February 27 has been removed: Collection fees on units that employ natural gas fuel, which stated that units that employ natural gas fuel whose programme is reduced by this process [...] will generate a collection fee amounting to the price resulting from the auction process. In other words, this provides compensation given the reduced use of combined cycle plants (that use natural gas) for using more national coal in coal power stations, as a result of a decision passed by the Government, to avoid concurrence in the electricity pool.
- Royal Decree 191/2010, modifying the Special Tax Regulation, approved by Royal Decree 1165/1995 (Official State Bulletin 2.3.2010).
This Royal Decree was required to incorporate Directive 2008/118/EC, on the general nature of special taxes. Modifications were also introduced to improve management and control over special taxes.
- Royal Decree 198/2010, adapting specific regulations concerning the electricity sector to the terms envisaged in Law 25/2009, modifying various acts for adaptation to the law governing free access to service activities and the exercise thereof (Official State Bulletin 13/3/2010).
- Royal Decree 249/2010, adapting specific regulations concerning energies and mines to the terms envisaged in Law 17/2009, on free access to service activities and the exercise thereof, and to Law 25/2009 modifying various acts for adaptation to the law governing free access to service activities and the exercise thereof (Official State Bulletin 18/3/2010).
- Ruling publishing the provisional list of the applications for the tender for the 2nd quarter of 2010 for the procedure for the pre-allocation of remuneration governed by Royal Decree 1578/2008 for photovoltaic facilities (Official State Bulletin 19.3.2010).
- Order ITC/734/2010 commencing the procedure for development proposals for the electrical energy transport network, the natural gas transport network and storing facilities for strategic reserves of oil products (Official State Bulletin 26.3.2010).
It aims to encourage parties from the electrical and gas sectors, Autonomous Communities and new project promoters to suggest development proposals for the 2012-2020 period. Thus, it initiates a planning process that will be completed in 2011, meeting forecasts for electricity and natural gas demands for the period and, consequently, fulfilling the needs for both systems in terms of capacity and the networks required to manage them.
- Order ITC/802/2010 establishing the regulations governing aids for the coal mining industry for fiscal years 2008, 2009 and 2010, corresponding to those envisaged in article 5.3 of Regulation (EC) No. 1407/2002 of the Council, on state aids for the coal industry (Official State Bulletin 31.3.2010)
- Royal Decree-Law 6/2010 on measures to promote economic recovery and employment (Official State Bulletin 13.4.2010).
Chapter V focuses on measures for the energy sector. It defines the concept of companies providing energy services, modifies some aspects of the regulatory framework governing contracts in the state sector and establishes procedures for financing potential temporary imbalances in the settlement of the activities governed therein.
- Ruling publishing cost values for the raw material and the base cost for the raw material for natural gas, for the first quarter of 2010, in order to calculate the efficiency complement and the retributive values for cogeneration facilities (Official State Bulletin 14.4.2010)
Rulings were also published for the following terms with the same purpose.
- Order ITC/1053/2010 governing fund transfers, fronted by the electric tariff and access tolls from third parties for gas facilities, from the National Energy Commission to the Institute for Energy Diversification and Saving, for the implementation of the measures envisaged in the 2008-2012 action plan for saving strategy and energy efficiency (Official State Bulletin 29.4.2010).
- Ruling approving the frequency of auctions, the timeframe and the number of contracts offered by the Spanish electricity system in contract auctions related to the electrical interconnection between Spain and Portugal, in 2000(Official State Bulletin 13.5.2010).
- Royal Decree 560/2010, adapting several regulations on industrial safety adapting them to Law 17/2009 on free access to service activities and the exercise thereof, and to Law 25/2009 (Official State Bulletin 22/5/2010).
- 2011-2020 Spanish Renewable Energy Action Plan (NREAP). Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade. 30 June 2010
As indicated in the reasoning of the NREAP, the plan falls within the requirements and methodology of the Directive on renewable energies and complies with the model for national action plans for renewable energies implemented by the European Commission.
- Ruling establishing the electrical energy production cost and last resort tariffs to be applied in the third quarter of 2010 (Official State Bulletin 30/6/2010).
- Order ITC/1723/2009 revising the access tolls (electricity) from 1 July 2010 and the tariffs and premiums for certain special regime facilities (Official State Bulletin 30/6/2020).
- Law 13/2010 modifying Law 1/2005 regulating the trading scheme for greenhouse gas emission rights, to improve and expand the general trading scheme for emission rights and include aviation therein (Official State Bulletin 6.7.2010).
- Law 34/2010 modifying Laws 30/2007 on Public Sector Contracts, 31/2007 on hiring procedures in the sectors of water, energy, transports and postal services and 29/1998 on Contentious-Administrative Jurisdiction, to adapt the former two to EC legislation (Official State Bulletin 9.8.2010).
- Royal Decree 1202/2010 establishing review deadlines for access tolls for transport and distribution networks for electrical energy (Official State Bulletin 25.9.2010).
- Ruling establishing the electrical energy production cost and last resort tariffs to be applied in the fourth quarter of 2010 (Official State Bulletin 30/9/2010).
- Royal Decree 1221/20010, modifying Royal Decree 134/2010, establishing the settlement procedure for the resolution of restrictions by guaranteeing the supply and modifying Royal Decree 2019/1997, which organizes and governs the market for electricity generation (Official State Bulletin, 2.10.2010).
From the preamble to the Royal Decree: As a result of the procedure for pre-notification to the European Commission, improvements are required in the mechanism proposed (in Royal Decree 134/2010 of February 12, aforementioned), essentially, given the incompatibility with the community framework regarding compensations for withdrawn units included initially in the programme. In view thereof, the Royal Decree eliminates the aspects of the text referring to compensation for withdrawn units... including compensations for volume of consumed energy mainly in combined cycles, as aforementioned.
- Ruling establishing amounts of coal, maximum volume of production and energy remuneration prices, for 2010 applicable to the settlement procedure for the resolution of restrictions by guaranteeing the supply (Official State Bulletin 26.10.2010).
This establishes the volume of autochthonous (Spanish) coal that specific thermal plants are required to purchase in 2010.
- Order ITC/2906/2010 endorsing the annual programme for exceptional electrical energy and natural gas facilities (Official State Bulletin 12.11.2010).
- Royal Decree 1565/2010 regulating and modifying specific aspects pursuant to the special system electrical energy generation (Official State Bulletin 23.11.2010).
This includes the specific definition of the concept of substantial modification of a facility with regard to the renovation of the financial scheme, underlining the obligation of installing customized equipment and advancing in administrative simplification.
- Royal Decree 1614/2010 regulating and modifying specific aspects pursuant to the special system electrical energy generation based on solar thermal and wind technologies (Official State Bulletin 8.12.2010).
Given the increase in wind, thermo-electric solar and photovoltaic technologies, which have reached and exceeded the objectives set for 2010, this Royal Decree aims to solve certain inefficiencies arising from the implementation of Royal Decree-Law 6/2009, on wind and thermo-electric solar technologies.
This Royal Decree governs specific economic aspects. For instance, remuneration is limited to an equivalent number of hours a year.
- Order ITC/802/2010 extending until 2011 Order ITC/366/2007, establishing regulations governing aids for the coal mining industry for fiscal years 2008, 2009 and 2010 (Official State Bulletin 21.12.2010)
- Royal Decree-Law 1472010 establishing urgent measures to correct the tariff deficit in the electrical sector (Official State Bulletin 24.12.2010)
The Spanish government hopes this Royal Decree-Law will limit the growth of the tariff deficit (beyond forecasts), by limiting the future repercussion on electricity tariffs and prices. Furthermore, this Royal Decree-Law aims to prevent further deficit in the electrical system as of 2013 (stabilization). One of the measures contemplated within this regulation involves establishing a 0.5 euro per MWh access toll for electricity producers. Valid regulations are also modified to reduce generation premiums on renewable energies by approximately 4,600 million Euros.
- Royal Decree 1738/2010 establishing Objectives for biofuel for 2011, 2012 y 2013 (Official State Bulletin 24.12.2010).
- Ruling establishing the electrical energy production cost and last resort tariffs to be applied in the first quarter of 2011.
The last resort tariffs will increase an average 9.8% as of January 1 2011. The electricity bill will not go up in households under the Social Bond, which amount to three million households.
- Order ITC/1723/2009 establishing the access tolls from January 1 2011 and the tariffs and premiums for certain special regime facilities (BOE 29/06/2009).
This order revises costs and adjusts access tolls for electricity transport and distribution networks applied by special regime companies (renewables and cogeneration) as of early 2011 (Official State Bulletin 29.12.2010).
- Law 40/2010 on geological storage of carbon dioxide (Official State Bulletin 30.12.2010).
This Law governs a demand that was growing in the energy sector with no or insufficient regulation in the Spanish law.
