Spain Signals Openness to Keeping Nuclear Power Plants Open

(Bloomberg) -- Spain is signaling for the first time that it’s open to reconsidering the shutdown of nuclear plants over the next decade amid a global revival of atomic energy.

While that’s not the plan agreed with nuclear plant operators, and it would be up to them to present concrete proposals, extensions are not ruled out, Environmental Transition Minister Sara Aagesen said in an interview.  

“Nuclear energy will be present in our mix at least until 2035” but could go beyond that if companies propose extensions, which hasn’t happened yet, she said prior to an International Energy Agency summit on the future of energy security. “We’re not considering anything because there is no specific proposal on the table.”

The more flexible tone is a significant shift for a Socialist government widely perceived as anti-nuclear power. Spain’s center-right opposition has asked for a revision of the phaseout in exchange for supporting measures to mitigate the impact of US tariffs. Utilities such as Iberdrola SA are also calling for the plan agreed in 2019 to be reconsidered. 

Countries across the globe are reviving nuclear power as they seek more energy independence, while solar and wind farms still require the development of large-scale battery infrastructure to become a more stable source of electricity. 

Since 2023, 31 countries agreed to triple nuclear capacity by 2050, from 2020 levels. China alone is building 28 new reactors, while Canada, the UK and the US hope advanced reactors will come online by the end of the decade, according to BloombergNEF. Belgium has delayed the closure of its two newest plants until 2035.

Spain’s plan to shut down its seven nuclear reactors, which currently contribute 20% of its power mix, was agreed with utilities including Iberdrola, Endesa SA, Naturgy Energy Group SA and EDP SA. The companies have since changed their stance.

“This situation requires deep analysis to see what the impact of a potential shutdown would be,” Iberdrola Chairman Jose Ignacio Sanchez Galan said in February during an earnings call. “What I can say is that Spain’s nuclear fleet is safe, efficient and reliable.” Industry group Foro Nuclear has also called for a reduction of a “suffocating tax burden.”

Aagesen said that incentives that would transfer costs to taxpayers or consumers, including payments for residue management, are out of the question. 

“Whoever pollutes, pays,” she said. “We’re talking about an essential cost of nuclear energy that, if it was to be covered by consumers, would constitute a state aid for a specific technology.”

The government’s energy roadmap aims to boost renewable power output to make up for the nuclear phaseout, while reducing dependence on fossil fuels. Spain’s goals of cutting carbon emissions in line with the Paris Agreement, which Aagesen has adamantly defended, haven’t changed with the US pulling out. 

“There is no coming back,” she said. “Europe has always shown leadership and will continue to do so.”

China, on the other hand, will be key to supporting the agreement’s goals, along with other countries like Brazil and South Africa set to meet at the COP30 summit in November, she said.

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