OREANDA-NEWS. November 13, 2017. Spanish utility Iberdrola has announced today that it will close all of its coal-fired power plants in the country as part of a plan to phase-out the fuel.

The utility will submit a request to the energy ministry to close the 358MW Lada and 516MW Guardo sites — its two coal-fired plants in Spain. The decision forms part of the company's plan to reduce its carbon emissions by 50pc in 2030 compared with 2007 levels and become carbon neutral in 2050, Iberdrola said.

The Guardo and Lada coal-fired plants, which use imported coal, produced around 479GWh in the third quarter this year, a 42pc year on year decline as tighter spark spreads made generation in Spain's older inland plants less attractive. The closure of Iberdrola's coal-fired capacity would not threaten security of supply in Spain's power system, the firm said, highlighting its 5.6GW of gas-fired capacity and 15.8GW of renewables installed across the country.

The company is now waiting for the government's approval before going ahead with the closure. But the request comes before parliamentary ruling on whether Madrid will make future decisions regarding the closure of power plants in Spain.