Overview
- The Ministry for the Ecological Transition published an order in the BOE on Friday, August 14, 2026, authorising Almaraz Units I and II to operate until June 8, 2030, ending a formal extension request that began in October 2025.
- The nuclear regulator, the CSN, issued a favourable technical report on July 16 conditioned on strict safety and radiological limits, and the ministry made the extension conditional on meeting those requirements, guaranteeing supply security, and avoiding higher costs for consumers.
- The decision has fractured the governing coalition, with Sumar rejecting the move as a breach of the 2023 pact and PSOE and Moncloa defending it as a time-limited response to volatile international gas markets.
- Regional leaders, workers and a pro-Almaraz platform welcomed the move for protecting roughly 4,000 local jobs and regional economic activity, and Extremadura’s government has pushed tax relief measures to make continued operation viable.
- The authorisation changes the 2019 staggered nuclear-closure timetable and could force revision of other shutdown dates, but any further extensions would require unanimous agreement by Almaraz’s owners or a change of plant ownership and would pose planning challenges for ENRESA’s decommissioning capacity.