Finance
Spain pays first arbitration award in long-running renewable subsidies dispute
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on June 5, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
Company
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on June 5, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
Spain pays $37M to settle a renewable subsidy dispute with a U.S. fund, following a World Bank arbitration ruling.
MADRID (Reuters) -The Spanish government has agreed to pay 32 million euros ($37 million) to a U.S. fund to end a legal dispute tied to renewable energy subsidies that were cut over a decade ago, an Energy Ministry spokesperson said on Thursday.
Foreign investors, mostly investment funds, took legal action against Spain after the previous conservative government cut renewables subsidies in 2013 to reduce a power tariff deficit built up through years of artificially low prices.
U.S. fund Blasket Renewable Investments had acquired the rights to the award from Japan's JGC Holdings Corporation, which won it under a 2021 ruling by the World Bank's International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes.
In 2024, the court shot down Spain's attempt to annul the decision.
Since the arbitration proceeding was from a non-EU investor, the payment doesn't clash with a March decision by the European Commission that told Spain not to pay up in a similar case as it would be a breach of EU state aid rules - which prevent governments from giving unfair advantages to one firm over competitors.
Cases from non-EU investors represent only 5% of the total, the spokesperson said, adding that Spain continued to pursue all legal avenues to defend its interests.
So far, Spain has been ordered to pay around 1.5 billion euros in various cases and the country has been able to reduce by 85% the amount demanded by investors, the spokesperson said.
($1 = 0.8754 euros)
(Reporting by Pietro LombardiEditing by Mark Potter)
Spain has agreed to pay 32 million euros ($37 million) to a U.S. fund to resolve the legal dispute regarding renewable energy subsidies.
Foreign investors, primarily investment funds, took legal action against Spain after the previous conservative government cut renewable subsidies in 2013 to address a power tariff deficit.
The U.S. fund Blasket Renewable Investments acquired the rights to the award from Japan's JGC Holdings Corporation, which won it under a 2021 ruling by the World Bank's International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes.
The European Commission had previously advised Spain not to pay in a similar case involving EU investors, indicating that the payment to Blasket Renewable Investments does not conflict with that ruling.
So far, Spain has been ordered to pay around 1.5 billion euros in various arbitration cases, although it has managed to reduce the total amount demanded by investors by 85%.
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