The European Commission (EC) has started to investigate Spain's €440m environmental incentive support measures for coal-fired power plants and will assess whether the support is in line with the European Union (EU) State aid rules.
In 2007, Spain introduced an environmental incentive scheme to support the installation of new SOx filters in existing coal-fired power plants and approved a €8,750 per MW support to 14 eligible coal-fired power plants. So far, the power plants have received €440m and payments are scheduled to continue until 2020.
Spain did not notify the EC for the assessment of the incentive under the EU State rules, which were laid down in the EU legislation on the limitation of emissions of certain pollutants into the air from large combustion facilities. The European Commission has concerns that the support has been used to meet EU environmental standards that were in any case mandatory.