Spanish companies Contigo Energía and Neuroenergía were fined for selling solar energy at night.
Selling solar energy at night is, in fact, illegal since it is not physically possible to produce it without storage systems, thus constituting a deceptive practice. This activity manipulates the market, distorting prices and damaging transparency and fairness. If a company sells night-time solar energy without a storage system, it is selling something that it cannot actually provide, constituting a deceptive practice and representing a fraud on consumers, who expect energy produced from renewable sources. These practices violate specific regulations that guarantee fairness and sustainability in the energy market. Last but not least, these actions undermine the credibility of renewable energy, hindering its adoption and slowing down the ecological transition.
The CNMC, the National Markets and Competition Commission, has sanctioned Contigo Energía and Neuroenergía for unfair practices in the solar energy market. Contigo Energía was fined 6 million euros for manipulating the market, planning 64,127.4 MWh of night-time photovoltaic supply in the first quarter of 2022, despite having no storage systems to provide energy at night. The investigation started from a complaint from Red Eléctrica de España. Neuroenergía was also fined 1 million euros for manipulating the market and deceiving operators and customers. This fraudulent maneuver, which occurred between August 2022 and March 2023, would have allowed it to obtain an advantageous position to make sales outside of Spanish territory. The company allegedly sold photovoltaic energy produced in Spain to France at a much higher price, violating the price cap mechanism known as the “Iberian exception”.
The energy market is regulated by laws and standards that guarantee transparency, fairness and sustainability. In Spain, the “Iberian exception” mechanism sets limits on energy prices to protect consumers and ensure fairness. Selling “fake” energy in violation of these rules compromises the functioning of the system and can lead to severe sanctions.
It goes without saying that these practices bring, in addition to the damage, the insult: consumers are deceived and all this casts unnecessary shadows on the energy transition.
