The National Court has confirmed eight fines against Naturgy for a total of 19.5 million euros. The sanctions were imposed five years ago by the National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC) when it considered that the energy company had altered the electricity market with a price increase in eight combined cycle plants between October 2016 and January 2017.
In a ruling, the fourth section dismisses the appeal presented by the energy company against the CNMC resolution by which it was fined as responsible for the commission of eight serious violations of article 65.34 of Law 24/2013 of the electricity sector. The company argued that the offers presented were normal and proportionate.
Specifically, the CNMC indicates that Naturgy offered at prices higher than its marginal costs and those of other similar companies for the energy from eight combined cycle plants in the area of Catalonia, northern Levante, eastern Andalusia and Campo de Gibraltar.
According to the characteristics of the area where each of these plants are located, according to the CNMC, their programming is necessary with high probability, so since they are not dispatched in the daily market due to their price, the operator of the system paid a premium by going to the market for technical restrictions.
As a result of Naturgy Generación's conduct, its plants were required by the system operator in the process of resolving technical restrictions on a series of days in which they could have been dispatched in the daily market. From this behavior, the CNMC estimated that the company would have obtained a minimum profit of 13 million euros.
