The decree law includes new adjustments in the price of gas, which until now increased by five euros per month and will now be smoother
MADRID, 16 Abr. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Plenary Session of Congress will vote next Thursday to validate the decree-law to extend until the end of the year the so-called ‘Iberian exception’, a mechanism that came into force in June last year to lower the price of electricity by decoupling gas in the electricity market.
After reaching an agreement in Brussels with the European Commission, the Government approved on March 28 in the Council of Ministers the decree that includes the extension of the mechanism, which basically separates the evolution of the price of gas from the price of electricity, given the strong increases that the raw material had registered as a result of the war in Ukraine.
In this way, in the first plenary session of Congress after the Easter break, the foreseeable validation of the decree will be addressed, whose defense will be in charge of the third vice president and minister for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, Teresa Ribera.
In the absence of knowing the direction of the vote of the different formations of the parliamentary arch, the validation of the original decree of this mechanism in June of last year went ahead with a majority of 197 ‘yes’ and the abstentions of PP and Vox.
And it is that, in the original agreement of June 2022 between Spain, Portugal and the European Commission, the Iberian solution was to be in force for 12 months, concluding on May 31. But the three parties agreed that the conditions that justified its implementation have not changed, within the framework of measures for the war in Ukraine, so that the mechanism can be applied while this framework is in force, according to the Ministry. for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge.
Consequently, it will be extended for another seven months without ruling out that it could be extended for a longer time, provided that the aforementioned framework is maintained.
The agreement not only represents an extension of the Iberian exception that was already applied, but also implies some adjustments to accommodate it, such as the price reference, which until now increased by five euros per month, and will now be smoother.
In the original agreement, the aforementioned reference price for gas had an average value of 48.8 euros per megawatt hour (MWh): it was 40 euros/MWh for six months, rising 5 euros/MWh each month thereafter. . At the moment, the reference price is 55 euros/MWh and the extension of the system implies a modification of the established path, so that it will increase by 1.1 euros/MWh from April, ending at 65 euros/MW.
According to government figures, the Iberian exception has meant, since it came into operation on June 15 of last year until the end of January, savings of more than 5,100 million euros for Spanish electricity consumers.
