The Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge has published this Friday in the BOE a ministerial order granting authorization to the Almaraz nuclear power plant to continue operating until June 8, 2030. It is an extension of between 19 and 31 months, depending on the reactor, loaded with political significance: the Government is flexible and open to applying technical criteria in its position regarding the closure of the nuclear plants, but at the same time ensures that the schedule of Closure agreed with the electricity companies in 2019, with a disconnection date in 2035.
In the ministerial order, the Government alludes to the war in Iran among the reasons that now advise adopting this decision. He argues that “the crisis in the Middle East has meant a disruption in the global energy context” that adds “significant volatility to fossil fuel prices,” which “extends risk and uncertainty into the coming years.” Spain, he says, is more prepared thanks to its advances in renewables, but the “surging context of high prices and greater volatility and uncertainty increases the country's exposure.”
He also argues that extending the life of the plant will contribute to moderating “some previously unforeseen price peaks coming from international natural gas markets.” However, he assures that this circumstance is “temporary” and is marked by the current scenario.
In the ministerial order, which comes shortly after the Nuclear Safety Council (CSN) gave its approval to the expansion of the plant, it defends its energy policy and its commitment to renewables "as a more competitive way of producing electricity." Renewables, he insists, have improved Spain's international positioning and generated "an unprecedented context of attraction for industrial and electrification projects."
He also maintains that the extension of Almaraz will not be too significant for the mix. The authorization, he points out, not only "represents a reduced proportion of the expected half-life of the Spanish nuclear park", but does not alter the agreed closure schedule. “The rest of the calendar or the date of definitive cessation of the entire nuclear park in 2035 is not modified,” he states. The extension, he insists, “has a very limited impact on the country's energy policy objectives.”
However, the ministerial order is a clue for the future of the nuclear park, in which the next steps of the closure schedule must be specified, with the Catalan Ascó plant as the next milestone. As agreed, Ascó I must be closed in October 2030, Confrentes in November of that year, Ascó II in September 2032, Vandellós II in February 2035 and Trillo in May 2035.
The decision confirms that the Government is willing to adapt to the conditions that it has been putting forward for months for the renewal of the nuclear park: that the safety principles established by the CSN are met, that it does not affect the security of supply and that it does not entail any additional burden on consumers' bills.
Meanwhile, the electricity companies have celebrated the measure, after months sending messages in favor of the extension. In a statement, Foro Nuclear says that it is “great news” that recognizes the contribution of nuclear to supply, its contribution to avoiding price volatility and its compatibility with renewable objectives. “The continuity of Almaraz gives certainty to the territory and highlights the value of safe nuclear energy, free of emissions, competitive and complementary to renewable energies,” says its president, Marta Ugalde.
The company that operates the plant, Centrales Nucleares Almaraz-Trillo, assures in a statement that the facilities have shown their ability to operate in a "safe, reliable and efficient" manner, in accordance with the "high standards" that place them among the "best plants in the world."
The order is published after completing all the administrative procedures surrounding the expansion. Reactor one of the Extremaduran plant had permission to operate until November 2027 and reactor two until October 2028, and it was in these months that the first closure decisions would have been made if the Government's initial approach had been met.
It also puts an end to a process that officially began in October 2025, when the three owners of the plant, which are Iberdrola, Endesa and Naturgy, agreed to formally request the extension. The ministerial order also specifies that the expansion of operation will be subject to strict compliance with the safety conditions and instructions issued by the CSN.
The Government also considers that the effect of the “limited extension” of the Extremaduran plant on renewable production and the electricity mix will be “limited and not very significant.” Its impact is estimated at the equivalent of 1.4% of the renewable generation expected in 2030 and 7% of gas combined cycle production. “The requested extension does not compromise Spain's contribution to the renewable objective,” he states.
The increase in dismantling costs will be “insignificant and does not require expanding existing storage facilities,” while reflecting Redeia's position on the decision. The operator considers that the expansion “contributes to the electrical system”, although “in a limited way in some aspects, so in no case”, so there will be no changes in the measures to reinforce the guarantee of supply.
Aside from the technical calculations, the decision has political effects and opens cracks in the government coalition. Sumar says that it is taken “at the service of the oligopoly” and that “it slows down the energy transition and mortgages citizens.” “The maintenance of the nuclear park is due to corporate pressures and not to technical, environmental or economic competitiveness needs,” he states.
“The costs of prolonging the useful life of the plant will go to the public coffers and will mortgage the budgets and, with it, the resources destined for citizens,” they say from Sumar. “The constant concessions to the energy oligopoly imply that a key sector continues to have privileges instead of obligations,” they continue. “We cannot follow the path of the right and the extreme right,” they add.
From Podemos, its deputy Ione Belarra is also critical. "There is little shame, but little else can be expected from a Government that promised housing and only rearmed. The PSOE is a machine for feeding the right," he says.
Meanwhile, the president of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, has criticized that the Government has waited until the month of August to “rectify” its position regarding Almaraz, without “being much noticed”, and has committed to keeping the plant open “beyond 2030”.
“We said it from day one and now the Government agrees with us,” said Feijóo in a message on X, before describing the measure as “late and incomplete rectification.” “The next Government will banish ideological sectarianism,” he adds.
From the PP they demand "the urgent cancellation of the calendar not only of the Almaraz plant, but of the rest of the nuclear power plants in Spain." They also consider that the extension approved this Friday "represents the recognition of the failure" of the Government's energy policy.
Meanwhile, Foment del Treball has reacted by celebrating the Government's decision. He considers it “a step in the right direction” that confirms his position that “energy policy must be based on technical, economic and security of supply criteria, not on ideological approaches.” He also takes the opportunity to request that the same criteria be applied to the Ascó I, Ascó II and Vandellós II plants. “We demand that the Government review the nuclear calendar and also guarantee the continuity of the Catalan plants,” he says.
