<article><p class="lead">Portuguese utility EDP has been considering plans to shut down its 346MW Soto de Ribera 3 coal-fired plant in Spain by 2022 and only keep the 562MW Abono 2 coal unit in the country after that date.</p><p>In a market presentation this week, the company mentioned that 0.7GW of its 1.25GW Spanish coal-fired capacity is "to be shut down by 2022", implying that just 0.55GW would remain operational.</p><p>Apart from Abono 2 and Soto de Ribera 3, the company owns the 342MW Abono 1 unit in Spain. All units are located in the northwestern region of Asturias.</p><p>EDP had already confirmed plans to reconvert Abono 1 into a 181MW gas-fired plant by 2022 and revealed that it was studying potential renewable projects to replace its entire 2.4GW coal-fired power fleet in Iberia, which also includes the 1.18MW Sines plant in Portugal. But it had not previously disclosed any estimated closure dates for its remaining coal-fired plants, only saying that the whole fleet should be permanently shut down <a href="https://direct.argusmedia.com/newsandanalysis/article/2038797">"well before 2030"</a>.</p><p>The company concluded retrofitting works at both Abono 2 and Soto de Ribera 3 in recent years so that the units could continue operating after June this year, when a new EU-wide emissions directive comes into force.</p><p>Several Spanish coal-fired plants that did not go through retrofitting investments will shut down by the middle of the year.</p><p>Queried by <i>Argus</i>, EDP said no official decision has been taken yet about the closure of Soto de Ribera 3.</p><p>"Current market conditions do not allow this unit to operate, with some alternatives being analysed for the future of the plant," it said.</p><p>In case Soto de Ribera 3 was to be shut down by 2022, only one other coal-fired unit would remain operational in mainland Spain apart from Abono 2: <a href="https://direct.argusmedia.com/newsandanalysis/article/2075298">Spanish utility Viesgo's 570MW Los Barrios</a>, located in Cadiz province in the southern region of Andalucia. This means that mainland Spain would have only 1.1GW of coal-fired capacity after 2022, down sharply from 9.2GW currently.</p><p>A combination of low European gas hub prices, higher EU emissions trading system allowance costs and accelerated renewable additions have made Spanish coal-fired plants uncompetitive since the second quarter of last year.</p><p>Major Spanish utilities Naturgy and Iberdrola are completely <a href="https://direct.argusmedia.com/newsandanalysis/article/1829074">withdrawing from coal generation in the middle of this year</a>, while competitor Endesa plans to shut down its final coal-fired plants in mainland Spain by <a href="https://direct.argusmedia.com/newsandanalysis/article/2042085">the end of 2021</a> while keeping its Es Murterar coal-fired plant in the Balearic islands <a href="https://direct.argusmedia.com/newsandanalysis/article/1844384">until 2025</a>.</p><p class="bylines"><i>By Juan Weik</i></p></article>
