Work Area: Renewable energy

A divided ICSID tribunal has found that Spain will be liable over reforms to its renewable energy subsidy regime to the extent that they fell short of providing a Portuguese solar investor with a reasonable return on its investments.

01 September 2020

An ICSID committee has extended a stay of enforcement of a German solar investor's €41 million award against Spain, ruling there was a real risk the state may be unable to recoup any sums paid out if the award is subsequently annulled.

27 August 2020

An energy company has said that it is considering bringing an international arbitration against Ukraine over proposed changes to the state’s renewables regime – reforms that practitioners warn could herald a wave of claims like those faced by Spain and Italy over similar measures.

21 April 2020

An Australian court has enforced a pair of ICSID awards worth a combined €229 million plus interest in favour of European solar power investors against Spain, rejecting the state’s sovereign immunity defence.

24 February 2020

A day after Spain secured a rare victory, it has emerged that an ICSID tribunal has rejected the bulk of another claim against the state over renewable energy reform – but ordered the parties to reach an agreement over compensation due for retroactive measures.

04 December 2019

Spain has approved a law which aims to end US$7.3 billion in pending treaty claims over renewable energy reform by offering investors economic incentives that can only be accessed if the cases are dropped.

22 November 2019

Austrian engineering company Strabag has filed an Energy Charter Treaty claim against Germany over changes to renewable energy legislation that affected its plans to develop wind projects in the North Sea.

23 September 2019

The Czech Republic has defeated four Energy Charter Treaty claims worth a combined €19 million over reforms to its solar power sector, as it pursues a challenge to an adverse award on liability in a further case over the same measures.

17 May 2019

A group of European energy investors have filed an Energy Charter Treaty claim against Romania at ICSID over the state’s cuts to a renewable energy incentive scheme.

13 June 2018

An ICSID tribunal has refused to order a solar power investor to pay security for costs in an Energy Charter Treaty claim against Italy, ruling that the investor’s reliance on a third-party funder following its insolvency did not make the order necessary or urgent.

14 June 2017