After months of advances and setbacks, the companies that own the Almaraz nuclear power plant in Spain – Endesa, Iberdrola, Naturgy and EDP – formally announced this Thursday that reached an agreement to ask the Spanish Government to extend the life of the electricity production unit from atomic energy. The closure of the two reactors is scheduled for 2027 and 2028, but The electric companies now intend to extend the deadline for another three years, until the end of the decade.
Every year the company invests 50 million euros in Almaraz with a view to improving, updating and modernizing equipment, arguing that it “is in excellent technical condition to continue operating”. The order was delivered one day before the deadline for submitting the necessary and mandatory documentation for the dismantling of the first reactor.
“The Board of Directors and the General Assembly of Shareholders of Centrales Nucleares Almaraz-Trillo (CNAT) agreed, in an extraordinary session held on October 30, 2025, to officially request the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge (MITECO) to modify the operating authorization of the two units of the Almaraz Nuclear Power Plant, to extend its operation until June 2030“, says a company statement released this Thursday. A day earlier, the Spanish newspaper The Economist the news advanced.
“Centrales Nucleares Almaraz-Trillo wishes to reiterate its commitment to continue operating the Almaraz Nuclear Power Plant in a safe, reliable and efficient manner, maintaining the high standards that place it among the best in the world,” the company added in a statement, classifying the plant as a “essential infrastructure that supplies more than 7% of the electricity consumed in Spain, the equivalent of four million homes”. In Almaraz they work
4000 people, plus another 1200 at each unit stop for refueling.
To defend the continuation of the operation until 2030, CNAT states in the statement that the nuclear plant located 130 kilometers from the border with Portugal “It is the main socio-economic driver of the region and one of the largest industries in Extremadura, generating highly qualified and long-term jobs, as well as having a positive effect on other local and national industries.periodic safety review approved by the Nuclear Safety Council, which is valid until 2030.
After the blackout, the president of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sanchéz, said that the Extension of the closure of nuclear power plants in Spain would have to be economically viable, financed by the owner companies and guarantee the security of electricity supply. In June, Iberdrola and Endesa had already asked Almaraz for more time, but at that time still without the support of Naturgy, who now joins.
Once the request has been sent, the decision is now in your hands from the Ministry of Ecological Transition. However, the answer may only arrive in March 2026, with the Government having to get there, to a political consensus with other parties. In the last elections, Sanchéz’s PSOE committed to moving forward with the dismantling of nuclear power plants in Spain.
According to El Economista, the proposal sent to the Government of Madrid calls for a three-year extension for the Almaraz I reactor – which is scheduled to close in November 2027 – and another two-year period for Almaraz II — which should close in October 2028. Therefore, the closure of the entire nuclear complex should occur simultaneously in 2030.
The newspaper also points out that, in the letter, the owners renounced their demands for reduced taxes and fees. Until now, electric companies proposed to maintain nuclear through a partial cut in taxes, but Sánchez always rejected changing the “Enresa tax” – National Radioactive Waste Company -, a contribution that plant owners pay annually to cover the future costs of decommissioning them and which was increased by 30% in 2024 (from 7.98 to 10.36 euros per megawatt-hour). This tax is applied to Spanish nuclear power plants to finance the management of radioactive waste and the dismantling of these facilities.
In 2024, nuclear energy contributed to 20% of electricity production in Spainbecoming the second largest source of energy, after wind energy (23.2%). It was also the technology that operated for the most hours, with an average of 7,361 hours.
In September, Iberdrola admitted closing Almaraz within the established deadline, giving as the “end of nuclear according to the signed protocol, with an impact of 550 megawatts (MW) in 2028”, is certain. In total, Almaraz has an installed capacity of 2,132 MW (I and II).