Charanne case: investors defeated in first ECT solar claim arbitral award

Crina Baltag

Research Output: Contribution to journal Article Peer-review

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG 7 Affordable and Clean Energy

Abstract

There are over thirty arbitrations based on the provisions of the Energy Charter Treaty (‘ECT’) registered against Spain and arising out of the photovoltaic solar electricity incentives granted by Spain to its investors in this renewable energy field. Promoted under the slogan ‘The sun can be yours’, the incentives granted by Spain attracted a record number of investments. The first arbitral award issued in this series of cases concerned the dispute between Charanne B.V. and Construction Investments S.à.r.l, as Claimants, and Spain, as Respondent. While the arbitral tribunal upheld jurisdiction, it rejected Claimants’ claim and dismissed the allegations of breaches of fair and equitable treatment and expropriation standards under the ECT. Although this arbitral award is not binding on subsequent arbitral tribunals, the reasoning of the tribunal in the Charanne case is of utmost importance as it confirms that the ECT is available for intra-European Union disputes. On the other hand, it is interesting to see how the other cases based on the same regulatory scheme will develop, as the tribunal in the Charanne case dismissed Claimants’ claims in full.

Publication Information

Output type

Research Output: Contribution to journal Article Peer-review

Original language

English

Pages from-to (Number of pages)

Pages 1-9

Journal (Volume, Issue Number)

Revista Romana de Arbitraj (Volume 12, Issue 1)

Publication milestones

Published - 01/01/2018

Publication status

Published - 01/01/2018

ISSN

1842-6859

External Publication IDs

handle.net: 10547/622276