Blackout blame game: Spain targets energy firms as Portugal’s EDP pushes back
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The Spanish competition authority has opened eight new enquiries in its investigation into the blackout and EDP is one of the companies mentioned. The Portuguese company denies any responsibility.
EDP (Energias de Portugal) has been notified by Spain’s National Commission on Markets and Competition (CNMC) of the opening of proceedings relating to the Soto de Ribera thermal power plant, in connection with the blackout, an official company source told Lusa.
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However, EDP has denied any link to the incident on 28 April, stressing that ‘this plant was not even scheduled to be operating at the time of the blackout’.
The Soto de Ribera thermal power plant, in Asturias, is ‘a backup facility for the electricity system’.
Lusa reports that on 23 April the CNMC opened eight ‘serious investigations’ into companies including Naturgy, EDP and Iberdrola, as well as 35 additional proceedings, taking to 63 the total number of cases brought by the Commission that could lead to sanctions.
In addition to Red Eléctrica, operator of the Spanish electricity system and responsible for high-voltage transmission and technical management, the companies Iberdrola, Endesa, Naturgy, Repsol, TotalEnergies, Engie and ContourGlobal, as well as the nuclear association Ascó-Vandellós, are also under investigation in this case linked to the 28 April 2025 blackout.
“As a result of these investigations, the CNMC has identified various indications of non-compliance, some of which went on for long periods and may have affected the operation of the electricity system and constitute administrative offences,” the Commission said in a statement.
The CNMC also stressed that the events under investigation in the more than sixty cases “do not in themselves imply that responsibility for the origin or cause of the blackout can be attributed to the companies involved”, since its origin is multifactorial.
In its statement, the regulator further underlined that “the opening of these proceedings does not prejudice the final outcome of the investigation”.
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