Source: Diario Financiero
Although the discussion for the new power regulation – where the way to remunerate the generation plants is proposed – dates from the previous government, next week will have a relevant milestone. After last year the current administration withdrew the Comptroller’s document, created a public-private table to address cases of temporary application of the new regulation of power transfers, the instance will live its closing session on January 19 at the Ministry of Economy. The Minister of Energy, Diego Pardow, will be present at the meeting and, according to sources, an overview of the conclusions and the document will be presented.
Facing the final stretch of this instance, the associations have insisted on their positions. One of them is the Guild of Small and Medium Generators (GPM), which on December 22 sent a letter to Pardow expressing its concerns and urging that a rethinking of power regulation is necessary. They propose to recognize the interdependence of the energy market with the power market, initiating a discussion of a comprehensive reform of the power and energy markets in accordance with the energy transition. Another proposal is to “extend to at least 15 years the start of application of the new regulation to all plants currently in operation and in the process of connection, given the current energy transition and the new operation of the system.”
Reactions
For the former executive secretary of the National Energy Commission (CNE), Andrés Romero, the Ministry’s process to discuss the new power regulation “has been not very transparent and without clear precedents.” “The impacts have not been sufficiently clarified by the authority,” he says.
Meanwhile, the director of the Association of Small and Medium Hydroelectric Power Plants (Apemec), Rafael Loyola, says that “continuing to delay the entry into force of the new power regulation, by including excessively long transients, would mean a risk to the goals of defossilization of the electrical system, because the incorporation of variable sources would continue to be overpaid, which, given their volatility, make the operation of the system more expensive and deepen the problem of dependence on fossil sources”.
From the Ministry of Energy they indicated that “the work in the table showed that certain modifications in the transitory articles are necessary. These require a prior process of socialization, for which reason they will be submitted to a public consultation, which will be limited in terms, so that to reintroduce the regulation as soon as possible to the Comptroller’s Office”.