- EDITIONS:
Spanish News Today
Murcia Today
Alicante Today
PROPERTY SEARCH
PROPERTY SEARCH
ARCHIVED - Soaring electricity costs force closure of first large industry in Spain
Businesses in Spain that use large quantities of electricity face ‘exorbitant’ prices
With the cost of electricity in the wholesale market breaking historical records all year, it was only a matter of time before the bigger businesses in Spain, which naturally consume more power, felt the pinch, and the Sidenor steel mill is the first major casualty.
The Basque steelworks announced on Monday October 11 that it has been forced to halt production at its main plant in Basauri in Bizkaia intermittently until Christmas due to the “exorbitant” price it must now pay for electricity to carry out its manufacturing processes.
In a statement, Spain’s leading company in the production of specialised steel rods claimed that electricity costs have increased by more than 300% in the past year, skyrocketing from 60 euros per megawatt hour (MWh) to 260 euros.
This price, Sidenor insisted, “causes losses and makes it impossible to maintain the current rate of production”.
For now, the company’s decision will reduce the working hours of some 750 employees, more than half the entire workforce, by 20 days, between now and December 31. The steelmaker has warned, however, that this is but a first measure to try and limit the tremendous impact the rising costs are causing to the industry, and has insisted that other solutions must be found to control electricity prices.
In addition, while the current stoppage only directly affects the main Basauri plant, Sidenor fears that the situation will progressively impact its other sites which are located throughout the Basque Country, as well as Cantabria and Catalonia.
Image: Sidenor
staff.inc.and
