據西班牙媒體阿爾卑斯6月29日報道，西班牙有望創紀錄地成為無煤國家，在煤礦關閉一年半后，西班牙所有剩余的燃煤火力發電廠將于6月30日開始關閉。如果沒有已經被歐盟禁止的國家援助，這些煤礦將無法生存。

Spain is on track to become a coal-free country in record time. All of its remaining coal-fired thermal power plants will start shutting down on Tuesday, a year-and-a-half after the closure of the coal mines, which could not survive without the state aid that the European Union has banned.

 

西班牙仍在運營的15個燃煤電站中，有7個將在6月30日停止運營，在其所有者，即電力公司，認為其根據歐盟法規進行改造沒有經濟意義。還有另外4個電廠也準備很快關閉。

Seven out of the 15 coal-fired power stations that are still working in Spain will cease being operational on June 30, after their owners – the electricity companies – decided that it does not make financial sense to adapt them to European regulations. And four more are getting ready to shut down soon.

 

然而，這些關閉行為似乎與西班牙政府的政策無關。實際上，西班牙生態轉型部拒絕加入承諾為淘汰燃煤電廠設定固定日期的國家聯盟。相反，是市場本身以及歐盟采取的措施，敲響了煤炭的喪鐘。

Yet these closures appear to have little to do with the Spanish government’s policies. As a matter of fact, the Ministry for Ecological Transition has refused to join an alliance of countries pledging to set a fixed date for phasing out this type of facility. Instead it was the market itself, together with the measures coming out of Brussels, that sounded the death knell for coal.

 

這些發電廠中有幾個已經連續數月沒有發電，由于市場條件和歐盟的政治決策的共同影響，這些電廠不再盈利。

Several of these power stations have not been producing electricity for months because it is no longer profitable due to a combination of market conditions and political decisions by the European Commission, which is the executive branch of the EU.

 

幾年前，這些高度污染工廠的溫室氣體排放量約占西班牙所有溫室氣體排放量的15％。2018年，西班牙消耗的所有電力中有近15％來自燃煤熱電站。

Until just a couple of years ago, these highly contaminating plants were accounting for approximately 15% of all greenhouse gas emissions in Spain. In 2018, nearly 15% of all electricity consumed in Spain came from coal-fired thermal stations.

 

但這似乎成為永遠的過去了。今年五月，燃煤電廠僅貢獻電力的1.4％。5月1日和2日，國家電網運營商西班牙電網公司（Red Eléctrica de España）停產兩天，這是自1990年有記錄以來的第一次。

But that seems like an eternity ago. In May of this year, coal-fired plants barely contributed 1.4% to the power mix. And they produced nothing at all between May 1 and 2, for the first time since Red Eléctrica de España (REE), the national power grid operator, began keeping records in 1990.

 

將于6月30日逐步淘汰的7個燃煤熱電廠分別位于拉科魯尼亞的Meirama、阿斯圖里亞斯的Narcea、萊昂的La Robla和Compostilla、特魯埃爾的安道爾、科爾多瓦的Puente Nuevo和帕倫西亞的Velilla。

The seven coal-fired thermal plants that will be phased out on Tuesday are Meirama in A Coruña, Narcea in Asturias, La Robla and Compostilla in León, Andorra in Teruel, Puente Nuevo in Córdoba and Velilla in Palencia.

 

擁有它們的4家公司，Naturgy，Endesa，Viesgo和Iberdrola，已向EL PAÍS確認，這些電廠將在6月30日停止運營，以避免違反歐洲環境指令。該指令要求此類工廠采用凈化排放氣體的技術。

The four companies that own them – Naturgy, Endesa, Viesgo and Iberdrola – have confirmed to EL PAÍS that they will cease operations on June 30 to avoid violating a European environmental directive forcing such plants to adopt technology to clean up the gases they emit.

 

這7個電廠的總發電量為4630兆瓦，略低于西班牙已安裝的煤炭發電裝機容量的一半，提供約1100個工作崗位，包括直接雇員和外包工作。

Together, these seven plants represent 4,630 megawatts (MW), a little less than half the installed coal power generation capacity in Spain. They provide around 1,100 jobs, including direct employees and outsourced work.

 

另外4家電廠的總裝機容量為3092兆瓦，雇用了約800名工人，已經申請關閉。業內消息人士估計，Iberdrola在阿斯圖里亞斯的Lada電廠，Endesa在A Coruña的As Pontes電廠和Almería的Litoral電廠以及加的斯的Los Barrios電廠可能在2021或2022年關閉。

Four other plants accounting for 3,092 MW and employing around 800 workers have already filed for permission to shut down. Industry sources estimated that Iberdrola’s Lada plant in Asturias, Endesa’s As Pontes plant in A Coruña and Litoral plant in Almería, and Los Barrios in Cádiz could be closed by 2021 or 2022.

 

西班牙還有另外4個尚未申請關閉的燃煤電廠，盡管它們的未來看上去不確定。

There are four other coal power plants in Spain that have not yet applied for closure, although their future seems uncertain.

 

環保非政府組織綠色和平的能源與氣候變化專家塔蒂亞娜·努尼奧表示：“我認為趨勢是到2025年將不再有煤炭生產。”國際法與環境研究所主任安娜·巴雷拉同意上述觀點：“我們考慮徹底關閉燃煤電廠的情景設置是2025年。”業內消息人士認為，淘汰工作也許會更快，甚至在兩到三年內完成。

“The way things are going, I think there will no longer be any coal generation by 2025,” said Tatiana Nuño, an energy and climate change specialist at environmental NGO Greenpeace. “The scenario we are working with for complete closure is 2025,” agreed Ana Barreira, director of the International Law and Environment Institute (IIDMA). Industry sources believe the phase-out could happen even faster, in two to three years.

 

一方面，歐盟的改革推高了歐洲市場的二氧化碳價格。歐盟排放交易系統設定了二氧化碳排放價格，該價格高得足以阻止化石燃料使用。2019年期間，一噸二氧化碳的價格為25歐元，這意味著在許多歐洲國家，燃煤電力的利潤不及選擇使用天然氣或可再生能源等。

On one hand, EU reforms drove up the price of CO2 in the European market. The EU emissions trading system set a price for releasing carbon dioxide that was high enough to discourage the use of this fossil fuel. During 2019, the price of a ton of CO2 was €25, meaning that in many European countries coal-fired electricity is not as profitable as other options such as natural gas or renewable energy.

 

此外，自2019年以來天然氣價格低廉。西班牙有許多使用天然氣的聯合循環發電廠，可以輕松替代燃煤發電廠。“ 天然氣價格下降是因為全球供應過多，且沒有地方存儲，”能源經濟集團主管Pedro Linares指出。

Adding to this is the low price of natural gas since 2019. Spain has many combined-cycle plants that use gas and can easily replace the coal-powered plants. “The price [of gas] went down because there was an excess of global supply and no place to store it,” noted Pedro Linares, director of the Economics for Energy group.

 

對2020年的預測是，天然氣價格上漲使煤炭更具競爭力，但是新冠疫情的流行破壞了這種情景。結果，自2019年3月以來，燃煤電廠的發電量一直處于歷史低位。據其所有者稱，今年至少有4家，Compostilla、Litoral、Los Barrios和Velilla，沒有發電。其他電廠在6月30日宣布退出之前，也一直在燃燒剩余的存貨。

The forecast for 2020 was that the price of gas would rise and make coal more competitive again. But the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted that scenario as well. As a result, coal plants have been producing electricity at historical lows since March 2019. At least four – Compostilla, Litoral, Los Barrios and Velilla – have produced nothing this year, according to their owners. And the others have been burning their remaining stock before calling it quits tomorrow.

 

分析師最驚訝的似乎是西班牙的進展速度。IIDMA的巴雷拉表示：“我認為撤資運動也起到了作用。” 這暗示公司拋棄化石燃料的壓力來自于投資基金。能源經濟集團的利納雷斯對此表示贊同。“一年前仍然有一些懷疑論者，但是看到這些動向后，我認為西班牙再也不會回歸煤炭了。”

What analysts seem most surprised about is the speed of the process in Spain. “I think that the disinvestment movements have also played a role,” said Barreira of IIDMA, alluding to pressure from investment funds asking companies to ditch fossil fuels. Linares, of Economics for Energy, agreed. “A year ago there were still a few skeptics out there, but after the movements we’ve seen, I think that there is no going back to coal for Spain.”