Support for Spanish gas utilities is “urgent”, says an industry body

MADRID (Reuters) – Supporting Spain’s gas-fired power plants with capacity expansion mechanisms is “urgent and necessary,” Joan Batalla, president of industry body Sedigas, said on Thursday.

As intermittent renewable energy sources such as wind and solar play an increasingly important role in the country’s energy mix, Batalla stressed that such plants, known as combined-cycle plants, act as an important backstop.

“We hope that the regulation enabling the implementation of generation mechanisms can quickly enter into force,” he told reporters, referring to the mechanism providing payments in exchange for making power plants available to produce electricity when needed.

While in the past these types of power plants operated continuously, the mass deployment of renewable energy sources means they now go through startup and shutdown phases, increasing costs, he said.

(Reporting by Pietro Lombardi; Editing by Jason Neely and Bernadette Baum)