• The ACSP participates in the debate for the design of the tax reform of green taxes organized by the Ministries of Finance and Energy.
In order to make a call to the authorities about the need to include taxes that encourage the use and development of renewable energies, the general manager of the Association of Concentrated Solar Power (ACSP), Cristián Sepúlveda, made a presentation in a public hearing, developed within the framework of the participation process to the tax reform, coordinated by the Ministries of Finance and Energy and which was also attended by representatives of the Ministries of Economy and Environment.
According to the above, for the executive it is necessary to consider an increase in taxes on all those ways of generating energy that are not friendly to the environment, since “it is not enough to close coal-fired power plants to achieve decarbonization, since some have been closed and we continue with plants that run on gas and diesel, which have conditions that should not currently be in force, if we want to make a change to Chile’s energy matrix”.
Sepúlveda added that “its current value of USD 5/tCO2e should be reviewed, increased and a gradual increase applicable to the variable cost of the most polluting power plants should be established, such as; Gas, Diesel and Coal, for purposes of determining the marginal cost, avoiding artificial subsidies such as inflex gas. being the correct way for the ‘green tax’ to effectively discourage the dispatch of polluting units and not be a mere collection mechanism. Thus, we would see a significant rebound or we could have a greater presence of renewable energies in our country. If we continue as we are currently, it will be very difficult to meet the 2030 goal that we not only have as a country, but is a commitment made in international instances”.
Another of the issues addressed by Sepúlveda was the importance of advancing in renewable energies with specific attributes such as Concentrated Solar Power, “with this technology we not only produce without emissions, but also strengthen the electrical system with plants that work 24/ 7 and that have a high storage capacity, renewable, stable, flexible and basic technologies such as CSP, which will naturally and economically displace fossil sources.
The authorities were interested in the presentation made, regarding the way in which CSP plants operate, and the specific characteristics that this industry has and that can be a real contribution to achieving the goal of decarbonizing Chile by 2030.