The CNMC fines Naturgy 6 million for "manipulating" the market and forces it to return another 35.5 million

The National Commission for Markets and Competition (CNMC) fines Naturgy for “manipulation” of the electricity market. Specifically, the regulator has sanctioned the gas company with 6 million euros and forced it to return another 35.5 million in compensation for the damage caused, concluding that the group took advantage of moments of technical restrictions, when the manager of the system delimits 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 from the company chaired by Francisco Reynés 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 (and not only in the analyzed period) formulated its offers in restrictions seeking to reasonably recover -but not achieving- its total costs based on the best and imperfect estimate of the competitive conditions in each moment”.

Regarding the benefits derived from the infringing conduct, Naturgy Generación highlighted that, in the last ten years, the plant has obtained a “generally negative” ebitda (gross operating result).

Technically speaking, any circumstance that may affect the security conditions or the quality of the electricity supply is known as technical restrictions and, therefore, oblige Red Eléctria to execute operating procedures, which can range from limiting the offers of the producers when excess energy, until forcing their entry into operation if the opposite situation occurs.

In accordance with Law 24/2013 of the Electricity Sector, the infraction for which the CNMC has fined the gas company is considered “serious”. “The manipulation of the price of adjustment services by a market agent by making offers at excessive prices, which are unjustifiably disparate from the prices offered by it in other segments of the production market”, typifies the rule.