European Commissioner of Action for Climate and Energy of the European Union, Miguel Arias Cañete, said that the European Union is already working on the response that it will give to the Government of Spain in reference to the unfair competition of Morocco through the sale of electricity from its coal plants in the Spanish market, Europa Press reports.
The Commissioner of Action for Climate made the announcement in statements to the press following his participation in the presentation of the tenth edition of the ‘Notebooks of Law for Engineers’, a collection developed by Iberdrola and the National College of Engineers of ICAI. In the framework of that act, Arias Cañete claimed that the European Commission received the letter sent by the Minister for the Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera, showing her concern about this fact and he also stressed that we are “in a process of reflection” and that it will be answered.
“It is not only a concern of the Spanish Government, but also of other countries that have borders with third countries in which the energy generation does not have the same features of that of the EU”
Arias Cañete pointed out that this conflict has not been raised solely by Spain: “It is not only a concern of the Spanish Government, but also of other European countries and also of countries that are in the phase of requesting EU membership and that have borders with third countries where the energy generation does not have the same characteristics as those of the EU “.
Spain has moved on to an importing balance of energy with Morocco since the end of last year. This is due to the fact that in Morocco energy is being generated in coal plants that are not buying CO2 rights –one of the main reasons that has made the price of electricity more expensive in Europe especially during the last year. This is allowing the African country to bid at a cheaper price and compete under unequal conditions.
Spain asked the European Commission to demonstrate its position on the impact of this benefit of Moroccan electricity for export to Spain
Thus, the Government of Spain asked the European Commission to demonstrate its position on the impact of this benefit of Moroccan electricity for its export to Spain and asked for the possibility of having some mechanism to protect free competition and the preservation of the environment.
National Energy Plans in the study phase
Regarding other matters, Arias Cañete noted that the Commission is also working on the analysis of the 28 drafts of National Energy and Climate Plans presented by the member countries, with the aim of formulating their recommendations before the end of June.
Spain sent its Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan 2021-2030 (PNIEC) to the European Commission at the end of February. Its main objectives are summarized in three figures: first, the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 21% compared to the 1990 level. At the end of 2017, Spain was 18 percentage points above that reference. Secondly, 42% of renewable energies on the final energy use of the country, which in the case of electricity generation involves a percentage of 74% of renewables in 2030. Third, an improvement of 39.6% in the energy efficiency of the country.
The European Commissioner stressed that this analysis “is complicated and complex”
For his part, Commissioner Arias Cañete stressed that it is a “complicated and complex” analysis, since not only is the adaptation of the measures of each plan reviewed on the basis of the capacity of each State, “but also whether those added efforts allow meeting the European targets “. And he explained that the goal is that, once those revised drafts are returned to the countries in June, a period of public consultation be opened in each one so that the final plans are ready by the end of this year.
