The Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge has authorized the request to close the As Pontes thermoelectric plant (A Coruña). The petition was presented by Endesa, and after a favorable report from Red Eléctrica de España (REE) on the compatibility of said closure with the security of supply of the electrical system.
In a previous report, and in a context of “great tension” in the energy markets caused by the invasion of UkraineREE was already contemplating the closure of two groups of the plant, while the other two could be closed conditionally to the availability of power.
Now, after the stabilization of these markets, REE has issued a new report that confirms the compatibility of the closure with the security of electricity supply, according to the ministry, which also indicates that the plans for the industrial conversion of the area provide for a investment of more than 2,500 million euros and would generate more than 1,300 direct jobs.
In this sense, it recalls that support programs are being launched for “innovative” energy projects that have funds from the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Planprioritizing in tenders for actions those proposals located in areas with power plants in the process of being closed, such as As Pontes.
In this area, aid has already been granted €15 million to the first phase of the EDP and Reganosa H2Pole project, which provides for the construction of a renewable hydrogen production plant, with an investment of 156 million and the creation of a hundred jobs (direct and indirect) in the exploitation phase, according to the department that directs in functions Teresa Ribera.