Spain's Regulator Did Not Probe Gas Unit Outages Despite Profitability Claims, Montel Says
With winter supply risks elevated, unexplained outages at reportedly profitable plants add a market conduct dimension to Spain's post-blackout regulatory record.
Gas-fired power units in Spain went uninvestigated by regulators despite claims those plants were operating profitably, Montel reported on Wednesday (2026-09-09). The finding adds to a post-blackout pattern. Spain's energy watchdog has repeatedly been found behind the curve on power market oversight.6
The timing is awkward for Spanish regulators. Naturgy, one of Spain's largest energy companies, warned on Wednesday (2026-07-22) that Europe faces "likely gas shortages and price spikes" this coming winter and urged the bloc to begin supply planning immediately to "mitigate the risk." If Spanish gas capacity sits idle and unexamined as European winter demand approaches, the question of whether capacity shortfalls are accidental or managed becomes harder to answer cleanly.5
ICE Endex TTF front-month was quoted at €79.51/MWh at Friday's close (2026-09-12). At that price, the economic case for gas-fired generation remains intact across much of the continent. The absence of scrutiny over reportedly profitable but offline Spanish units becomes harder to explain when European gas is trading near those levels.5
Spain's regulatory track record since the April 2025 blackout provides context. Late on Monday (2026-05-18), the director of the CNMC's energy division said Red Electrica, Spain's transmission system operator, should have notified the regulator that voltage control was inadequate before the national power failure. "I would have liked to have been notified," the official told Montel. Red Electrica did not provide that notification in time. The pattern of significant issues surfacing only after events is not unique to the TSO.3
The nuclear sector is under a separate CNMC probe, though its scope is distinct. Foro Nuclear, the industry lobby, said on Tuesday (2026-05-19) that the investigation into nuclear power production had "no link to the blackout on 28 April 2025" and did not concern safety at facilities. That leaves the regulator's focus fragmented: voltage failures, nuclear output, and now gas unit conduct each carry their own inquiry timeline, or in the case of gas, an apparent absence of one.1
Britain's National Energy System Operator noticed "unexpected shifts" in the UK grid on Sunday (2025-04-27), hours before Spain and Portugal lost power, and confirmed it had opened an investigation. The results of that UK inquiry have not surfaced in available reporting.4
Gas, nuclear, and voltage represent three separate strands of post-blackout examination. Profitable-but-idle gas units add a fourth. They also introduce a market conduct dimension the others do not carry: operational failures point to technical fault; capacity sitting unused when margins are positive points to a commercial decision, which calls for a different regulatory response entirely.6,3,1
Spain's generation mix gives firm capacity real weight. Wind and solar now exceed 40% of total electricity supply, and nuclear contributed 19% of generation in 2024, according to Economist reporting from May 2026. The Bank of Spain estimated wholesale electricity prices were 40% lower in 2024 than they would have been under the 2019 generation matrix — a saving built on gas and nuclear backing up the grid when variable output dips. Unexplained gas plant outages cut against that premise.2
The CNMC has not confirmed any investigation into the gas unit outages following Montel's September report. If winter plays out as Naturgy forecast on Wednesday (2026-07-22) — shortages, price spikes, tight European margins — every megawatt-hour that failed to reach market when it was reportedly available and profitable becomes harder to explain. Outages left uninvestigated through summer are a much larger liability when the heating season validates the supply warnings.6,5