GA_P’s Energy team analyses the legal implications of the power blackout

Gómez-Acebo & Pombo’s Energy team reflects in El Confidencial on the potential claims arising from the recent power blackout and the debate surrounding the future of Spain’s energy mix, particularly in relation to the nuclear plant shutdown schedule.

The article addresses the complexity of the regulatory framework applicable to the energy sector, as well as the difficulties involved in articulating possible extensions to the nuclear timetable in a context marked by prior commitments between the Government and the electricity companies, and by the need to safeguard security of supply.

From a legal standpoint, Gómez-Acebo & Pombo’s Energy team stresses that any modification to that timetable is far from straightforward: “from a strictly legal and regulatory perspective, the question does not admit a simple answer. The staggered shutdown schedule between 2027 and 2035 stems from a protocol agreed in 2019 between the Government and the owning utility companies, which means that any extension requires not only political will, but also contractual renegotiation, a review of the economic and financial framework applicable to nuclear power, and a solution to the cost of waste management.”

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