BarcelonaDespite the emergence of hundreds of electrical marketers, the Spanish electricity market is increasingly concentrated in five large companies, which have 90.8% of the free market, when three years ago it was 83.6%, according to the latest data from the National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC). Therefore, five large companies – Iberdrola, Endesa, Naturgy, Repsol and TotalEnergies – practically control the market.
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But these companies are far from acting in unison, at least commercially. It is true that they all, more or less angrily, criticized the special tax on electricity. However, relations between some of these companies have become strained, to the point that Iberdrola has taken Repsol to court accusing the oil company (which is also an electric company) of greenwashing.
Behind this action is the fight for the market (Repsol is the electricity supplier that won the most customers*) and also two different visions on the energy transition. The electric companies believe that the transition goes through the total electrification of the economy, for example transport or industry, and the energy vision of a wider spectrum: they believe that renewable fuels, green hydrogen or biogas they can also play a role in this transition.
The fight in the courts between Iberdrola and Repsol is an example of these contrasting visions. But not the only one: the big electricity companies decided to set up a sector union, Aelec. The main partners of this association are the large pure electricity companies –EDP, Endesa and Iberdrola–, but they do not include Repsol or Naturgy, which in addition to the electricity business also have interests in the fossil fuel business.
The spark that has put the two energy companies at war is the lawsuit for unfair competition due to misleading advertising in which Iberdrola, chaired by José Ignacio Sánchez Galán, accuses Repsol of greenwashing o ecoposturing Iberdrola puts the spotlight on the oil company’s promotions to expand its electricity portfolio through “multi-product” offers that “end up encouraging the use of fuels” (if you hire electricity, you will have discounts when you fill up with petrol or diesel the car deposit).
Iberdrola’s arguments, according to company sources, are that these multi-product offers encourage the use of fuels, which Repsol makes a banner of sustainability when it is the State company that emits the most greenhouse gases.
Repsol defends itself from the attack by assuring that its is a “value proposition” for customers that has generated “nervousness” at Iberdrola. “Repsol will not be distracted by a lawsuit from a company that is not used to competing in an open market but is rather used to moving in regulated environments that depend on Official Gazette of the State. With this lawsuit, without a legal basis, the first thing they show is that they are nervous,” replied the CEO of the oil company, Josu Jon Imaz, this Thursday.
The third vice-president and Minister for the Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera, reacted to the demand on the social network X indicating that finally the greenwashing comes to court
Far from calming the situation, Ribera provoked a strong reaction from Imaz. The manager of Repsol appealed directly to the minister: “Do we want industry, Mrs. Ribera? We want it. Repsol is committed to a multi-energy offer that meets the needs of citizens and we are committed to a basic principle which is that of technological neutrality, it is that is to say, that any technology that helps reduce CO₂ emissions be used”. And he went even further: “The alternative to this approach is to close the refineries”, which in the case of Repsol employ 28,000 people in Spain
Repsol’s comeback
Ribera’s answer came quickly. The minister expressed her support for industry and decarbonisation and even applauded the fact that oil companies such as Repsol or Cepsa are betting on changing “in a very important way” their business model and considering different alternatives to be increasingly “a diversified energy services company”.
However, he emphasized that the advertising aspect is very important. “When it comes to the truth, we as consumers want to be sure that what we’re being given or those ads that accompany a certain product are offering something that has a reality behind it and not something that can be labeled in any way,” he warned, and recalled that Brussels already proposed a directive on labelling green confused
Advertising aside, the commercial aspect weighs heavily. Iberdrola is the largest electricity company in the State, and has 10.1 million customers on the free market. Repsol has 1.5 million electricity customers on the free market (to which should be added the 305,877 of CHC, a company of which it owns 50.01%) and is the fourth marketer. The distance is great. But Iberdrola had a 35.2% market share in the first quarter of 2020 and by the end of 2023 it had dropped to 33.7%. In the same period, Repsol went from a market share of 3.5% to 5.1%. In terms of the number of supply points in the electricity sector, the Iberdrola, Endesa and TotalEnergies groups have reduced their customer portfolio in 2023 by 188,000, 87,000 and 65,000 contracts respectively. Repsol and Naturgy increased it by 246,000 the first and 119,000 the second.
2024-03-23 16:06:22
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