Circular 4/2012, of July 12, by the National Energy Commission, regulating the management of the promotion mechanism for the use of biofuels and other renewable fuels for transportation purposes.
Published in:
Official State Gazette, No. 197 of August 17, 2012, pages 59162 to 59180 (19 pages).
http://www.boe.es/boe/dias/2012/08/17/pdfs/BOE-A-2012-10951.pdf
Section:
I. General provisions
Department:
Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism
Reference:
BOE-A-2012-10951
TEXT
The eleventh additional provision, third section, point 1, seventh function, and new section 3.6 of Law 34/1998, of October 7, on the Hydrocarbons Sector, establish that the National Energy Commission may issue Circulars for the development and implementation of the rules contained in royal decrees and orders of the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism issued in development of energy regulations, provided that these provisions expressly authorize it. These Circulars will be published in the Official State Gazette.
Furthermore, Order ITC/2877/2008, in its Article 6, designates the National Energy Commission as the entity responsible for issuing biofuel certificates, managing the certification mechanism, and supervising and controlling the biofuel marketing obligation, and in its second final provision, point 2, authorizes it to issue the necessary Circulars to fulfill its functions as such Certification Entity.
The sixteenth additional provision of Law 34/1998, of October 7, on the Hydrocarbons Sector, establishes annual sales or consumption targets for biofuels and authorizes the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism to modify these targets and establish additional objectives. In the exercise of this authorization, Royal Decree 459/2011, of April 1, raises to 6.0%, 3.9%, and 6.2% in energy content, the biofuel objectives in diesel, gasoline, and overall, respectively, for the year 2011, and to 7.0%, 4.1%, and 6.5%, respectively, for the years 2012 and 2013.
The aforementioned Royal Decree 459/2011 establishes in its first final provision the possibility of introducing exceptions or territorial flexibility mechanisms in the biofuel promotion mechanism.
Pursuant to this authorization, Order IET/631/2012, of March 29, was published, introducing a territorial exception in the biofuel promotion mechanism for the years 2011, 2012, and 2013.
Finally, Order IET/822/2012, of April 20, was published, regulating the allocation of biodiesel production quantities for the fulfillment of mandatory biofuel objectives. As provided for in its Article 7, the list of allocated production quantities will be approved by reasoned resolution of the Secretary of State for Energy and published in the Official State Gazette. Said resolution will establish the date from which only the allocated biodiesel will count for the fulfillment of mandatory biofuel objectives.
Article 8.2 of Order IET/822/2012, of April 20, instructs the National Energy Commission to issue a quarterly report monitoring the price of biodiesel in Spain, including a comparison with biodiesel prices in the rest of the European Union and the degree of competition in the sector. In order to comply with this mandate and based on the authorization contained in the eleventh additional provision, third section, point 4 of the aforementioned Law 34/1998, of October 7, it is necessary to regulate the submission of certain information to the CNE, specifically, contracts entered into by owners of biodiesel production plants with allocated quantities and weighted average purchase and/or sale prices of biodiesel sold and/or acquired.
This Circular 4/2012 includes the modifications introduced by the aforementioned Orders IET/631/2012 and IET/822/2012, as well as the modifications introduced by Law 25/2009, of December 22, amending various laws to adapt them to the Law on the free access to service activities and their exercise, regarding the elimination of the authorization regime for wholesale operators.