The Spanish government has introduced a new charge on wind farms and other non-polluting power plants to compensate for the higher revenue earned as a result of higher wholesale electricity prices.

The new levy applies to the facilities with an installed capacity higher than 10MW and to power plants which don’t receive state incentives.

They argue that high gas prices have driven up electricity prices and as wind farms don’t have to buy gas, they’re earning significant profits. The tax will be paid if the gas price is higher than €20/MWh.

High wholesale prices

Spain’s wholesale market electricity prices reached the highest ever recorded level of €189/MWh. This is an enormous increase compared with €46/MWh a year ago.

WindEurope estimates that the charges will be in the region of €40/MWh to €80/MWh and are due to last until the end of March, potentially generating €2.6bn.

In addition, the government has prepared a tax for nuclear and hydropower plants.