The more than 4,000 farmers, small businesses and cooperatives, which allegedly face ruin as central government slashes the financial benefits for solar energy producers, have found a powerful ally in the Luis Ramón Valcarcel, President of the regional government.
Yesterday Valcarcel announced he will appeal the decree issued by the Minister of Industry, which cuts financial benefits from solar energy by 30%, as “unconstitutional.”
He has promised the producers of renewable energies he will “put the legislative machinery of the regional government into action against the reduction in tariffs which,” he said, “punish photovoltaic energy retrospectively.”
The executive of the regional government consider this measure is “especially prejudicial” for communities like Murcia which have the greatest capacity to produce energy from the sun.
Representatives of the National Association of Investors and Producers of Renewable Energies met with the President yesterday to ask him to alleviate the “desperate situation” of its members. The Association estimates some 86 million euros will be lost regionally due to the reduction in benefits.
Under the decree the 30% cut in “primas” (the hours sold back to the national grid) also applies to existing renewable energy plants. The investors have seen these primas cut from 1,500 hours to 1,250.
“The larger companies can afford to operate at a loss for a couple of years while the small investors don´t have that luxury,” says the Association spokesperson. “Most of them have taken out loans to cover the installation and were using the profits to pay the installments. Once the loan was paid off the profits from the electricity sold back to the national grid would have paid for their retirement. Now they have lost their investment and cannot afford to meet the payments on their loans. Many of them face ruin.”
