The European Commission has given the green light to the proposal by Spain and Portugal to put a maximum ceiling on the price of natural gas for electricity generation, which will mean an average of 50 euros per megawatt hour (MWh) for a period of 12 months and that will thus allow lowering the electricity bill.
Sources from the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge have confirmed the approval of Brussels and have indicated that they are “working” to be able to take the proposal to the Council of Ministers this Tuesday or “as soon as possible”. Spain and Portugal are coordinating to pass the legislation at the same time.
The advance on this announcement was given by Antonio Costa, Prime Minister of Portugal. “This very morning the European Commission gave the green light to the Portuguese and Spanish proposal to avoid contamination of the price of electricity due to the rise in gas. It’s a far-reaching measure.” Costa told Portuguese journalists in Strasbourgafter leaving the Conference on the Future of Europe.
“At this moment we are coordinating with the Spanish government how we approve the respective legislation, and we will do everything to be able to do it tomorrow,” added the Portuguese prime minister.
50 euros/MWh average price for one year
Spain and Portugal announced at the end of April that they had reached a political agreement with the European Commission to limit the wholesale electricity market in both countries the price of gas, used by combined cycle plants to produce electricity, and thus ease consumer bill.
The application of the ceiling will have a duration of twelve months. and will start with an average gas price of 40 euros/megawatt hour (€/MWh) to stabilize at about 50 euros/MWh on average throughout the period.
The European Commission confirmed last Friday that it had received the Iberian proposal and that it would study it “urgently” while the “technical contacts” between Brussels, Madrid and Lisbon continued.
The price of electricity in the Iberian wholesale market rebounded this Monday by nearly 21% to stand at 208.74 euros per megawatt hour (MWh), according to data from the Iberian Electricity Market Operator (OMIE).
.
