Spanish government plan takes wind out of sails of country's renewable energy sector

Public Radio International reports on Spain's renewable subsidies - subsidies that are likely to see another revision, downwards, later in July.

"Spain had a thriving renewable energy sector, until the bottom fell out of the economy. In the Spanish government's efforts to find funds to operate, it decided its subsidies for renewables were too high. Not only did it reduce subsidies, it actually went after subsidies already awarded in previous years."

Spanish government plan takes wind out of sails of country's renewable energy sector | PRI.ORG:

Economist Mike Rosenberg says... Spain ran out of money after the housing and banking crashes four years ago.
“And these subsidies, which were thought to be very generous, were seen as no longer affordable,” he said.
The Spanish government has reduced the subsidy for green energy 13 times since 2010, for big and small investors alike. Most investors say they figured the initial support was too generous, so they expected reductions over time.
But earlier this year, the Spanish government did something no one saw coming.
At a small office by the rail lines in the port of Tarragona, solar entrepreneur Mark Segura recalls the day he read the single word that he says sank the future of green energy here: retroactivity. The government announced that its subsidies would shrink — not just in the future, but going back to the beginning of the program.

Read the entire article, and listen to the audio report, at PRI.ORG: 

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