Brussels (EFE).- The Vice President of Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera, announced on Tuesday that the Government has reached an agreement with the European Commission to extend the Iberian exception until December of this year, which limits the price of gas in the wholesale market of electricity.
The Council of Ministers will approve this Tuesday the regulations that will extend the validity of the so-called Iberian mechanism that has been applied in Spain and Portugal since June last year to reduce the price of electricity to homes and companies, Ribera said upon arrival at the meeting of the 27 energy ministers in Brussels.
“It has been worked on and closed and we have the agreement and support of the Commission,” said the third vice president of the Government, who pointed out that the extension has to be “formally” approved by Brussels, but that the community authorities have already given its “explicit endorsement”.
In Ribera’s opinion, it is a “tool” that “allows us to continue protecting Spanish and Portuguese consumers until the end of the year” and that “probably will not be activated” if the price of natural gas remains at “current prices”. , but that it would go back into action “if it goes up again”.
Tope al gas
The cap on gas within the wholesale electricity market rose this month to 55 euros per megawatt/hour (MWh) and would end in June at 70 euros, but the extension until December also reduces the monthly increases so that the price at the end of the year will be limited to 65 euros.
In April, for example, it will stand at 56.1 euros megawatt hour, according to sources from the Ministry of Ecological Transition.
“The curve of the slope by which each month the gas ceiling gradually increased becomes a much longer curve, but much smoother. Instead of that ceiling going up by 5 euros every month (…) we went from the current 55 to 65 in December”, explained the vice president of Ecological Transition about “the most important change”.
Until now, it had established a cap on the price of gas used to generate electricity in the wholesale market, which started at 40 euros/MWh and since January has risen by five euros per month.
At the beginning of the year, the Third Vice President of the Government and Minister for the Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera, advanced that she would request, “simultaneously” with the proposal to reform the European electricity market, to extend the “Iberian exception” until the regulations are modernized.
The Spanish government was in favor of an extension until 2024, while Portugal was interested in maintaining this mechanism as long as the “model” and “terms” applicable at that time were preserved.
However, on January 20, the European Commission informed both Executives that a possible extension of the Iberian mechanism could not, for the moment, go beyond December of this year.
According to the latest data from the Ministry, the popularly known “gas cap” has meant savings of more than 5,100 million euros.
