US green giant NextEra seizes shares in London airport over Spanish renewables row

US wind and solar giant NextEra has seized shares in a London airport as part of a campaign to enforce a €290m ($317m) award against the Spanish government over cuts to its support scheme for renewable energy projects.

NextEra has obtained interim charging orders against the 26% stake that Spain's state-owned airport operator Aena holds in a holding entity for London Luton Airport, along interest in certain affiliate companies, the Spanish entity said in a recent market disclosure.

The charging orders also relate to land where one such affiliate is the registered proprietor, including properties Aena said are part of Luton Airport, which saw more than 16 million passengers pass through its doors in 2023.

Aena, which is owned by Spain’s public air traffic control authority, said it was notified on Saturday about proceedings to recognise and enforce the arbitration award won by NextEra.

Aena said it is not a party in the proceedings and was not notified of them. Once it is notified, Aena said it will determine the scope of the orders and defend its interests.

NextEra won its award against the Spanish government in 2019 in a case heard at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, an arm of the World Bank in Washington, DC.

The case concerned NextEra’s investment in concentrated solar power plants in Spain. In the early 2000s, Spain boasted a generous support scheme for renewables projects, drawing NextEra and other international developers to invest.

But in 2008, with its economy having been rocked by the global financial crisis, Spain began to make a series of retroactive cuts to the support mechanism. That culminated with the state abolishing its feed-in tariff system in 2013 and replacing it with a support scheme based on a “reasonable return” on investment.

Over 50 foreign investors in Spain’s renewables sector responded by filing international arbitrations against Spain. Many of those investors, including NextEra, invoked the Energy Charter Treaty, a multilateral agreement guaranteeing protections for investors from one signatory country when they invest in another.

Twenty-six arbitral tribunals have now reportedly ruled against Spain, finding that the retroactive nature of the changes it made breached the treaty. NextEra won its €290m award in 2019 and has been seeking to enforce it in various countries ever since.

Other investors have launched similar actions. Last year, a Spanish state-owned language learning and cultural centre was seized in London.

NextEra was approached for comment.