The Spanish competition authority, CNMC, has fined Eólica del Alfoz €958,593 for abusing its dominant position as the Unique Nodal Interlocutor (IUN) at the Villimar 220 KV electrical transport node. This marks the first instance where the CNMC has imposed a public contracting ban on a company for violating competition laws.

Eólica del Alfoz was found to have favored a renewable energy installation from its own group over a competitor, which led to the latter being denied access to the electrical transport network. This behavior constitutes a serious infringement of Article 2 of the Spanish Competition Defense Law (LDC).

The investigation was initiated following a regulatory conflict regarding access to the network, which highlighted Eólica del Alfoz's improper actions as the IUN. The role of the IUN is critical as it has significant discretion in processing access requests, which can affect the limited capacity available at the node.

The CNMC's ruling also includes a six-month prohibition on Eólica del Alfoz from entering into contracts with the public sector for works, supplies, and services related to wind farms. This decision follows the CNMC's recent guidelines on determining the scope of contracting prohibitions due to competition violations.