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111 MW increase at the end of the year. I should like
to point out that these figures are based on the results
of the homologation tests performed by these plants,
and that as of the end of the year these were partly
still undergoing administrative arrangements with
the Ministry of Industry and Energy, for their formal
recognition. We use these values because they
reflect the technical reality of the facilities, and in
order not to favourably distort the results of operating
indicators in which rated power plays a part, to
which I shall refer below.
The load factor, which relates actual production to
that technically possible, has reached 87.4% for the
plants overall, thus maintaining the trend shown
over the last decade, in which this factor has been
above 85%.
The operating factor, which indicates the time that
the plants have been coupled to the grid, regardless
of the power level at which they have been
operating, reached 90%, also the second highest
value ever attained by the Spanish nuclear power
plants overall.
For its part, the availability factor has been 88.5%.
The difference between this parameter and the load
factor is that in this case no consideration is given to
the losses or gains in production due to causes not
under the control of the operating personnel, such as
grid load rejections or improvements in performance
due to environmental causes. For this reason, within
the new framework that has governed the electricity
industry for the last two years, this factor becomes
especially relevant in analysis of the technical
performance of the installations.
The scheduled and non-scheduled unavailability
factors have amounted to 9% and 2.6%,
respectively. The first is higher than the figure
recorded in 1998 due to the larger number of
refuelling operations carried out, while the second is
significantly lower than that registered the previous
year, which was 6%.
The average value for non-scheduled reactor trips
has slightly increased during 1999. The figure for
automatic non-scheduled trips (scrams) has been 1.7
per reactor, and the total figure for non-scheduled
shutdowns, both manual and automatic, has been
2.8. Nevertheless the high level of training and the
operating experience of the operators have made it
possible for the plants to return to power operation
shortly after these trips.
The studies on operations and maintenance costs
for 1998 have not yet been completed, but the
decreasing trend shown during the period 1993-
1997, to which I referred last year at this same
forum, is expected to continue. It should be
remembered that in 1997 these figures stood at 1.26
pesetas/kWh net (approximately 0.84 cents), in line
with the most efficient plants in the world.
In completing and updating the habitual data, I
shall point out that the total nuclear electricity
generating capacity amounted to 7,749.1 MW as of
31st December 1999. As already explained, this
represented an increase of 111 MW with respect to
the previous year, and 16.7% of the total installed
capacity of the UNESA member companies.
It is a pleasure for me to be able to repeat yet
another year that Spain’s nine nuclear units continue
to show excellent performance as regards safety,
availability and costs, maintaining the trend
established in previous years and underlining the
high level of qualification of the professionals who
make this possible. The reliable, safe and economic
performance of the nuclear power plants is the best
possible argument in favour of nuclear power
continuing to be used in the future as a source of
electricity supply in our country, throughout the
operating lifetime of each of the facilities.
Mention should be made of the fact that this year
the José Cabrera, Garoña and Trillo plants have had
their Operating Licences renewed after the Nuclear
Safety Council (CSN), the maximum national
• Real Decreto Ley 6/1999 de 16 de Abril
• Royal Decree-Law 6/1999, April 16
• Consumidores cualificados
• Qualified Consumers
A/At 31-12-99
Apartir de/As of 1-7-00
• Nuevos Agentes Autorizados
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señalar que en el año en que se alcanzó
su máximo (1998), sólo 4
centrales efectuaron la recarga de
combustible, frente a las 7 que la
han realizado en 1999. Esta diferencia,
significativa en el tiempo total
de conexión a la red, únicamente
ha tenido una repercusión del
0,25% en la disminución de la producción.
Esta aparente discrepancia se justifica
por la mejora alcanzada en las
potencias nominales de Vandellós II
y de la unidad II de Ascó, que han
supuesto un incremento total de 111
MW a final de año. Quiero aclarar
que estas cifras están basadas en los
resultados de las pruebas de homologación
realizadas por dichas centrales,
si bien parte de ellas estaban
a final de año en tramitación administrativa
con el Ministerio de
Industria y Energía para su reconocimiento
formal. Utilizamos estos valores
por que son los que responden
a la realidad técnica de las instalaciones
y para no distorsionar favorablemente
los resultados de los indicadores
de funcionamiento en los
que interviene la potencia nominal,
a los que me referiré a continuación.
El factor de carga, que relaciona
la producción real con la técnicamente
posible, ha alcanzado el
87,4% para el conjunto de las centrales,
manteniéndose la tónica de
la última década en que este factor
ha sido superior al 85%.
El factor de operación, que indica
el tiempo en que las centrales han
22% ejerciendo/practicing
54% del mercado/of market
estado acopladas a la red, independientemente
del nivel de potencia al
que hayan estado funcionando, ha
alcanzado un valor del 90%, que
también constituye el segundo valor
máximo alcanzado por el conjunto
del parque electronuclear español.
El factor de disponibilidad, por su
parte, ha sido el 88,5%. Su diferencia
con el factor de carga estriba en
que en él no se tienen en cuenta las
pérdidas o ganancias de producción
originadas por causas que no están
bajo control del personal de operación,
como pueden ser los rechazos
de carga de la red eléctrica o las
mejoras de rendimiento por causas
medioambientales. Por ello, en el
nuevo marco en que se desenvuelve
el Sector eléctrico desde hace dos
años, este factor adquiere especial
relevancia al analizar el funcionamiento
técnico de las instalaciones.
Los factores de indisponibilidad
programada y no programada han
sido del 9% y 2,6% respectivamente,
el primero, superior al del año
1998 por el mayor número de operaciones
de recarga efectuadas y, el
segundo, significativamente inferior
al de dicho año que fue del 6%.
El valor medio de las paradas no
programadas del reactor que se han
producido ha tenido un repunte en
el año 99. El correspondiente a las
paradas automáticas no programadas
(disparos) ha sido de 1,7 por reactor
y el del total de paradas no
programadas, automáticas y manuales,
ha sido de 2,8. No obstante, la
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R e v i s t a S N E