ICSID orders Spain to pay EUR 128m to solar investors it hurt

The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) ruled in early May that Spain should pay EUR 128 million (USD 139m) plus interest to two investors in concentrated solar power (CSP) hurt by policy changes.

Eiser Infrastructure Ltd and Energia Solar Luxembourg have been successful in their case against Spain, though they were not awarded the full EUR 300 million in sought damages.

According to the ICISD Arbitral Tribunal, regulatory changes concerning support for renewable energy have had a devastating effect on prior investments, such as these in CSP, breaching Article 10 of the Energy Charter Treaty.

Spain’s energy reform in 2013 and 2014 included retroactive cuts to renewables incentives, affecting the performance of many power producers and igniting numerous disputes. The Spanish energy ministry said in a statement the result of this award cannot be extrapolated or constitute a binding precedent for other pending arbitrations.

In a brief on the topic, law firm Watson Farley & Williams notes that numerous cases against Spain and Italy in the field of renewables are awaiting decisions from the World Bank’s ICSID. The Eiser case is the first to be closed.

(EUR 1 = USD 1.09)

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