Coal Mining Plan and alternative development of the mining regions.
The current regularisation framework for coal mining contemplates a series of aids for the sector in order to make national production coal competitive with other coal that may be acquired on the international market.
In essence, the plan takes the following aspects into consideration:
- The Administration provides the mining companies with guarantees that the electricity companies will undertake an obligation of minimum annual acquisitions of coal and avoid discriminatory situations between mining companies. The guaranteed amounts of coal will decrease with time.
- The mining and electricity companies shall subscribe to contracts under the supervision of MINER for a time period of not less than three years.
- The miner will receive direct aid intended to cover the difference between production costs and the freely agreed selling price.
- The electricity companies shall receive an incentive for using national coal, which shall be calculated as the difference between the price of international coal at the power plant and that of nationally produced coal.
- Additional aid is available for the modernisation, restructuring and rationalisation of the mining companies’ activities.
- In addition, budgets shall be drawn up for the execution of infrastructures that promote the alternative development of the mining regions.
- Finally, there is also aid available for business projects that promote the generation of jobs that encourage the re-industrialisation of the affected regions.
