Green Street: Tax on generation may hurt Spanish renewables, but it could have been worse

Leaked accounts had suggested that the Spanish wind sector could have been hit by an 11% tax

Sisse Brimberg/Cotton Coulson

By Ben Backwell

 Thursday, September 20 2012

Updated: Monday, November 26 2012

The Spanish government’s package of measures to combat the so-called electricity “tariff deficit” — €24bn ($31.3bn) and growing — has unsurprisingly been criticised by the country’s wind industry.

The package contains a 6% across-the-board tax on electricity generation, as well as new taxes on nuclear and large-scale hydropower, plus a new carbon levy.

Spain’s wind industry association, the AEE, says the tax will have a €241m impact on the industry in 2013 alone. The sector already bears a high tax burden, as it pays extra charges imposed by some of Spain’s regional governments, as well as taxes common to the energy sector.

The AEE complains it was not consulted by the government, and Spanish commentators point out that, while generators of…

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