Spain owes more than €1.5B across roughly two dozen unpaid renewable-energy awards under the Energy Charter Treaty, and creditors led by NextEra, 9REN and Blasket are enforcing them through US courts over the EU’s objections, with Spain’s sovereign-immunity challenge now awaiting a Supreme Court certiorari decision.
LATEST DEVELOPMENT · MAY 26, 2026
The US Solicitor General filed its invited amicus brief recommending denial of Spain’s certiorari petition in Spain v. Blasket. Spain has separately noticed its first merits appeal to the D.C. Circuit from a post-NextEra judgment enforcing one of the ICSID awards, and district courts continue to confirm awards.
BACKGROUND
Spain’s 2013–2014 rollback of its solar and renewables incentive regime triggered some fifty investor claims under the Energy Charter Treaty and left Madrid holding the world’s largest stack of unpaid investment-treaty awards, roughly two dozen, exceeding €1.5B, with interest and costs still accruing. After the EU Court of Justice’s Achmea and Komstroy rulings, EU law and the European Commission bar Spain from paying intra-EU awards, so creditors such as NextEra (€290.6M), 9REN (€41M), Antin and Blasket Renewable Investments, assignee of a €26.5M award to Dutch investors AES Solar and Ampere, turned to US federal courts under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act.
In August 2024, the D.C. Circuit resolved the threshold battle in the creditors’ favor, holding in consolidated appeals (NextEra, 9REN, Blasket) that FSIA jurisdiction turns on the existence of an arbitration agreement rather than its scope, so Spain’s intra-EU objection is no jurisdictional bar. District courts have since confirmed the NextEra and 9REN awards. Spain’s certiorari petition (Kingdom of Spain v. Blasket Renewable Investments, No. 24-1130) drew a call for the Solicitor General’s views in October 2025. On 26 May 2026, the Solicitor General recommended denial, and the cert decision is pending. Spain has separately noticed its first merits appeal to the D.C. Circuit (5 March 2026), while parallel enforcement advances in Singapore, Australia and the United Kingdom.
TIMELINE
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JUN 8, 2026FILINGSupplemental briefing completed in Spain v. Blasket cert petition at U.S. Supreme CourtFollowing the Solicitor General’s May 26, 2026 amicus brief recommending denial of certiorari, Spain, Blasket, and NextEra/9REN each filed supplemental briefs addressing the government’s views, with Spain continuing to press for Supreme Court review of the D.C. Circuit’s jurisdictional ruling.
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MAY 26, 2026PROCEDURALSolicitor General recommends denying Spain’s cert petitionThe invited amicus brief opposed certiorari while flagging room for future FSIA challenges to award enforcement. The Court’s decision is pending.
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MAR 5, 2026APPEALSpain notices its first merits appeal to the D.C. CircuitAppeal from a district-court judgment enforcing one of the ICSID awards, Spain’s first post-NextEra merits challenge to confirmation.
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MAR 4, 2026JUDGMENTUK Supreme Court rejects Spain’s sovereign immunity appeal in related ICSID enforcement caseThe UK Supreme Court unanimously dismissed Spain’s appeal in Infrastructure Services Luxembourg S.à.r.l. v Kingdom of Spain, holding that ICSID Convention Article 54 constitutes a waiver of sovereign immunity and that Spain cannot rely on immunity to block enforcement of a related €101M ECT renewables award in England. The ruling reinforces the same legal theory underlying the NextEra, 9REN and Blasket enforcement actions against Spain in other jurisdictions.
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FEB 24, 2026ENFORCEMENTSingapore High Court rejects Spain’s immunity objectionsIn [2026] SGHC 43 the court allowed registration of the NextEra ICSID award, holding Spain had submitted to enforcement jurisdiction through the ICSID Convention and the ECT.
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MAY 2025APPEALSpain petitions the US Supreme Court. SG’s views invited in OctoberKingdom of Spain v. Blasket Renewable Investments, No. 24-1130. On 6 October 2025, the Court called for the views of the Solicitor General.
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AUG 16, 2024APPEALD.C. Circuit confirms US jurisdiction over Spain’s intra-EU ECT awardsIn NextEra/9REN/Blasket, the court held FSIA jurisdiction turns on the existence of an arbitration agreement, not its scope, rejecting Spain’s intra-EU objection as a jurisdictional bar.
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MAR 2023JUDGMENTD.D.C. judges split over jurisdiction to enforce intra-EU awardsOne judge dismissed Blasket’s petition, reasoning EU investors could have no valid arbitration agreement with Spain, while others let enforcement suits proceed, teeing up consolidated appeals.
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MAY 2019AWARDICSID tribunals award NextEra €290.6M and 9REN €41MTribunals found Spain’s subsidy rollback breached the ECT. Dutch investors AES Solar and Ampere separately won €26.5M, an award later assigned to Blasket Renewable Investments.
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2013OTHERSpain rolls back renewables incentives, triggering ~50 ECT claimsReforms dismantling the feed-in tariff regime prompted dozens of Energy Charter Treaty arbitrations by foreign renewables investors.