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ENVIRONMENT

ENERGY

Energy continues to be one of the most important factors for the competitiveness of the companies in our sector. 2009 saw the consolidation of the electricity management and contracting systems that appeared after the suppression of the tariff rates.

The rise in the regulated power access rates has further increased the final energy price. These rates have served as a vehicle to include costs which should be kept apart from the electricity system and charged to the General Budget, such as subsidies for renewable energies, compensations for spanish locations outside the peninsula, for the nuclear moratorium, ELCOGAS, CNE, etc. The elimination of such costs from the system would allow the energy invoice to be decreased by over 1,100 M€. The industrial consumers cannot absorb all these costs in the access rate without a clear loss of competitiveness.

Electric energy demand in the Peninsula amounted to 251,305 GWh, a decrease of 4.6% on the previous year. This was the first negative growth rate since 1985.

As regards production, the mix of energy generating methods shows a substantial decrease in the part corresponding to ordinary regime technologies, where power output has decreased by 12.7%. It is this part of the system that absorbs the entire fall in demand, while output from producers in the special regime increased by 18.3%.

Renewable energy producers have increased their share in the production required to cover the demand, supplying up to 28% of the demand, compared to 26% the previous year. The greatest growth was recorded in the wind and solar power sector. Coal-fired power stations have reduced their output to below that from wind power.

The demand for natural gas in Spain amounted to 401,855 GWh, 10.6% less than in 2008, as a result of the continuous fall in industrial activity. The amount of natural gas delivered for electric power generation decreased by 14.2% due to the causes mentioned previously. 31% of the annual electric power demand in Spain is supplied by combined cycle power stations.