The National Commission for Markets and Competition (CNMC) fines Naturgy for “manipulation” of the electricity market. Specifically, the regulator has sanctioned 6 million euros to the gas company and has forced it to return other 35.5 million as compensation for the damage caused, concluding that the group took advantage of moments of technical restrictions, when the system manager limits the offers of electricity producers for exceptional reasons, to increase their offers and thus increase their billing.
In its resolution, the CNMC states that Naturgy has two months to appeal the sanction before the courts, filing a contentious-administrative appeal before the National Court. Official sources of the company he chairs Francisco Reynes They have confirmed to EL MUNDO that they will take action in court to appeal the sanction.
Specifically, the action punished by the supervisor refers to the one carried out by the combined cycle plant (facilities that burn gas to produce electricity) Sabón 3, in the electrical zone of Galicia, between March 23, 2019 and December 31. December 2020.
Within the framework of the sanctioning file, on March 23, 2023, Naturgy Generación submitted its allegations to the resolution proposal of the CNMC. In them, the company defended that “the plant has consistently formulated (and not only in the period analyzed) its offers in restrictions seeking to reasonably recover -not achieving- its total costs attending to the best and imperfect estimation of the competitive conditions at each moment”.
Regarding the benefits derived from the infringing conduct, Naturgy Generación highlighted that, in the last ten years, the plant has obtained an ebitda (gross operating result) “generally negative”.