London-listed Berkeley Energia launches near £1bn arbitration proceedings against Spain
London-listed Berkeley Energia’s Spanish entity has filed a request for arbitration proceedings against the Kingdom of Spain over alleged violation of provisions of the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT).
The Australian-headquartered energy group revealed that its Spanish subsidiary, Berkeley Minera España (BME), has filed proceedings to the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes seeking $1bn (£783m) in preliminary compensation.
Back in November 2021, the company said it had received formal notification from the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO) that it had rejected the authorisation for construction for the uranium concentrate plant as a radioactive facility (NSC II) at the company’s Salamanca project.
The group told its shareholders in November 2022 that this decision followed the unfavourable report for the grant of NSC II issued by the Board of the Nuclear Safety Council (NSC) in July 2021.
Berkeley said it strongly refutes the NSC’s assessment and, in its opinion, the NSC “adopted an arbitrary decision with the technical issues used as justification to issue the unfavourable report lacking in both technical and legal support”.
Back in 2022, the group submitted a written notification of an investment dispute to the Prime Minister of Spain and the MITECO over the rejection.
However, according to a statement to shareholders on Tuesday morning, the Spanish government has still not engaged in any discussions related to the dispute
BEL has now filed a request to enforce its rights to the Salamanca project through international arbitration.
The request has been jointly submitted by specialist teams at Herbert Smith Freehills Spain and LCS Abogados, which will represent BEL in the arbitration proceedings.
The group stated that despite this dispute, it remains committed to the Salamanca project while continuing to be open to a constructive dialogue with Spain
Berkeley Energia said it is “ready to collaborate with the relevant Spanish authorities to find an amicable resolution to the permitting situation and remains hopeful discussions can take place in the near term.”
In the meantime, tribunal members will be selected and appointed as part of the next phase of the arbitration proceedings.
The group said it “will provide a further update on the arbitration proceedings as required”.