The Second Vice President and Minister for Economy and Employment of the Government of Castilla y León, Tomás Villanueva, yesterday criticized the “sterile debate” on aid for coal and the “bad regulation” of the energy sector in Spain and hoped that the Government would “skillfully overcome” the situation.

Villanueva, who attended yesterday’s first presentation of the National Energy Conference held in Valladolid, focused his criticism on the administration of subsidies to domestic coal, the removal of extensions to the nuclear industry and the lack of a defined regulatory framework for renewables.

“What cannot be is what we have experienced in recent days regarding coal, a futile debate as a result of removing the incentive without giving a solution or an alternative, this has caused a huge political effort before the European Union, complained the director.

In this regard, he criticized that such “mixed problems” might even cause a Spanish commissioner – in reference to Joaquin Almunia – “to take an option on coal which would be harmful and negative” for Castilla y Leon and other communities by “establishing 2014 as the end of production”.

Read more (in Spanish):

http://www.europapress.es/asturias/noticia-castilla-leon-carga-contra-debate-esteril-carbon-mala-regulacion-sector-energetico-espanol-20101007135209.html