The government is quietly considering introducing a new energy tax on electricity generators. The idea is to charge a progressive tax on all generators. According to the announced draft of the law, the rate would be:
11% for wind, 13% for thermal / solar generation and 19% photovoltaic. The current tax of 15€ per MW/H on hydroelectricity production will stay the same.
The assumption is that since these generators don’t pay any taxes for their “fuel” they have an unfair advantadge over traditional energy producers, I assume.
The % would be applied to the sale price of every MW/hour produced, as opposed to an initital plan to charge a flat rate of 5€ for every MW/h produced.
The measure is likely to hit the “green” energy producers quite hard – Abengoa, who produces some 543MWH via solar panels, estimates the new tax will cost them around 26 million euros a year, or 2% of earnings before EBITDA. Acciona, another green energy producer, claims the move will cause a 13% hit on earnings before EBIDTA, which will be equivalent to a 57% drop in net profit for 2013, and has announced that it will be factoring in this likely tax on 2013 earnings in order to warn investors.
Which is likely to filter down to the consumer, who is already struggling with some of the highest energy prices in the EU currently. And who is now looking at a 3% raise in the costs, caused simply by the IVA hike.