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Diari de Catalunya

CNMC expands blackout investigation with 15 new sanctioning proceedings

The regulatory body has opened a 'very serious' proceeding against Red Eléctrica and is investigating other major sector operators.

Generic image of a complex electrical grid with blurred lines and glowing nodes.
IA

Generic image of a complex electrical grid with blurred lines and glowing nodes.

The National Commission for Markets and Competition (CNMC) has expanded its investigation into the major power outage of April 28, 2025, opening fifteen new sanctioning proceedings against several energy sector companies.

With this new phase, the total number of open procedures rises to thirty-five. Among the new proceedings, the only one classified as “very serious” stands out, directed at Red Eléctrica, the system operator.
According to the CNMC, the company may have failed to comply with fundamental obligations such as guaranteeing the correct operation of the electrical system, in accordance with safety and reliability criteria, and managing the adjustment services necessary to maintain grid balance.
The fifteen new proceedings are added to the twenty announced last week and mainly affect large operators in the sector. Endesa Generación accounts for eleven of the new procedures, and companies such as Engie, TotalEnergies, and ContourGlobal are also being investigated, as well as the nuclear association Ascó-Vandellòs, participated by Endesa and Iberdrola.
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"The investigation is not limited to the events of April 28, but also includes practices detected on other days. These behaviors could also constitute indications of infringements of sectoral regulations and have affected the system's operation for a prolonged period."

a CNMC spokesperson
In the case of the nuclear association, the CNMC points to possible practices consisting of presenting offers with “abnormal or disproportionate” values that could have altered the functioning of the electricity market, especially in the dispatch of generation units.
Despite the expansion of the proceedings, the CNMC insists that these procedures do not, by themselves, allow attributing the cause of the blackout to the investigated companies. The body maintains that the system collapse had a “multifactorial” origin, resulting from a combination of technical and operational factors. The regulator has rejected criticisms from some electricity companies that pointed to a supposed “regulatory vacuum” in voltage control at the time of the incident, defending that the existing regulatory framework was sufficient.
The open proceedings mostly correspond to possible serious infringements, and the case of Red Eléctrica remains the only one considered very serious, with potential sanctions that could reach up to 60 million euros. An instruction phase is now opening, which can last between nine and eighteen months, during which the affected companies can present allegations and provide evidence before the regulator adopts a definitive resolution.

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