A proposal to make a Spanish windfall tax on energy firms permanent, which had seen oil and gas majors threaten to halt green hydrogen developments, has been dropped.
Last December, the Spanish Government extended its windfall tax on banks and energy firms by a further 12 months, with intentions for the tax to become permanent, sparking anger from the companies involved.
The tax was introduced to soften the impact of inflation on Spanish citizens by funding subsidies for fuel and public transport.
Last month, both Repsol and Cepsa (now Moeve) said that they would halt planned green hydrogen projects in Spain if the tax was extended permanently. Instead, the tax will only continue on banks for another three years.
Repsol paused its three initiatives in Cartagena (100MW), Tarragona (150MW) and the Basque country (100MW), whilst Moeve said it could slow its €3bn ($3.2bn) green hydrogen investments planned for the country.
Read more: Repsol puts the brakes on 350MW of green hydrogen plants in Spain
Read more:Cepsa could curb €3bn green hydrogen plans as Spain eyes permanent windfall tax
Speaking during Repsol’s Q3 financials this week, CEO Josu Jon Imaz, praised the agreement reached between the Spanish ruling party PSOE and Junts and PNV parties to withdraw the regulation.
“The proposal to make this tax permanent was officially withdrawn, so with this discussion behind us the problem is over,” he said.
“It’s time for us to now focus on the future opportunities that lay ahead. This positive decision we saw yesterday will allow us to move forward with the industrial investments we have planned in Spain.
“We are going to be fully focused on the preparations to ensure that they are going to be executed successfully in the close future.”
Last month, a Repsol representative told H2 View, “We can confirm that we have frozen all our planned renewable hydrogen investments in Spain due to an unfavourable regulatory environment, particularly the government’s plans to make the windfall tax on energy companies permanent.”
H2 View has reached out to Repsol and Moeve to confirm whether they have decided to re-activate their respective hydrogen projects.
