Cogeneration plants may benefit from the gas capping mechanism after the publication of Royal Decree-Law 17/2022.

In the current context of high natural gas prices in the national and international markets, the Government has approved Royal Decree-Law 17/2022, of September 20, which adopts urgent measures in the field of energy, in the application of the remuneration system to cogeneration facilities and the rate of Value Added Tax applicable to deliveries, imports and intra-community acquisitions of certain fuels is temporarily reduced.

As of October 1, 2022, and for the duration of its validity, cogeneration plants will also be able to take advantage of the temporary mechanism for adjusting the production costs of facilities that use natural gas as fuel, colloquially called "gas capping". Thus, in addition to the income from the pool, they will receive the compensation regulated by Royal Decree-Law 10/2022, of May 13, for the electrical energy delivered to the grid.

The facilities that decide to take advantage of this mechanism will temporarily waive the specific remuneration regime, for which they will no longer receive the aforementioned remuneration. However, they will be exempted from compliance with minimum hours of operation or energy efficiency. This waiver will be reversible, recovering the plants upon completion the right to receive the specific remuneration.

The Royal Decree-law contains other measures to mitigate the energy crisis, such as the reduction of VAT to 5% until the end of the year for consumers, or others to facilitate the implementation of renewable energies.

You can consult the full legal text at the following link:

https://www.boe.es/boe/dias/2022/09/21/pdfs/BOE-A-2022-15354.pdf