The Spanish National Commission on Markets and Competition (CNMC) has fined Eólica del Alfoz €958,593 for abusing its dominant position and, for the first time, imposed a six-month prohibition on the company from participating in public sector contracts. The sanction stems from a violation of Spain’s Competition Defense Law (case S/0011/23).
The CNMC found that Eólica del Alfoz, acting as the Sole Grid Node Interlocutor (IUN) for the Villimar 220 kV node in the electricity transmission network, unfairly favored a renewable energy installation within its own corporate group over a competitor. This conduct breaches Article 2 of Law 15/2007 of July 3, on the Defense of Competition, constituting an abuse of dominant position.
The investigation originated from a resolution by the CNMC’s Regulatory Supervision Chamber during an access dispute (case CFT/DE/163/19), which identified improper conduct by Eólica del Alfoz as IUN. In this role, the company held exclusive authority to process all access requests to the node submitted to Red Eléctrica de España (REE), the national electricity transmission system operator. This position grants significant discretionary power, including deciding the order and coordination of access applications—key factors when network capacity is limited.
Eólica del Alfoz abused this role by requiring its competitor to make improper corrections to its access application on four separate occasions, ultimately leading to the competitor’s exclusion due to exhaustion of node capacity and triggering the access dispute.
The CNMC also declared the parent company, Beta Participaciones Ibérica, S.L., jointly liable for the fine.
Beyond the financial penalty, the CNMC imposed a nationwide ban preventing Eólica del Alfoz from entering into public contracts related to construction, supply, operation, and maintenance of wind farms and related equipment for six months. This marks the first instance in which the CNMC explicitly defines the duration and scope of such a contracting ban, following its June 13, 2023 Communication 1/2023 outlining criteria for imposing public procurement prohibitions due to competition infringements.
This decision follows earlier sanctions against other companies acting as IUNs, such as Enel and Luminora, reaffirming the critical importance of transparency, objectivity, and non-discrimination in managing grid access to ensure fair competition in the electricity market.
