World Bank urges Spain to pay 120 million to Antin investment fund for renewables
The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), an institution dependent on the World Bank, has demanded Spain to execute the payment of more than 120 million euros in favour of the investment fund Antin for the cut in renewable energy premiums approved by the State in 2013.
In a letter addressed to the State Attorney General’s Office, to which EFE has had access and which dates back to 16 January, the ICSID assures that Spain has still not executed the payment to which the institution itself condemned in July 2021 through a “definitive and binding” resolution for the parties.
For this reason, it demands information from the State on the measures that have been adopted to comply with the terms of the award and, if no action has been taken, it urges it to “comply with and abide by the terms of the award in order to avoid the accrual of the interest foreseen”.
Specifically, in 2018, the ICSID ordered Spain to pay nearly 120 million euros to the Infrastructure Services Luxembourg and Energia Termosolar funds -formerly Antin Infrastructure Services Luxembourg and Antin Energia Termosolar-, for damages caused by the cut made in 2013 by the previous PP government to renewable energy premiums.
This regulatory change has so far led to around fifty international arbitrations that have resulted in awards totalling 1 billion euros for the State.
In this case, Spain requested that the initial amount of the award – 112 million – be reduced to 84 million, but the ICSID finally decided to reduce it only to 101 million, which with interest now exceeds 120 million.
