The Spanish energy regulatory authority, Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia (CNMC), has imposed a €1 million fine on Enet Energy S.A. for attempting to manipulate the national organised gas market (MIBGAS) eight times from April to May 2023. Enet Energy S.A. acknowledged its responsibility and proceeded with an early voluntary payment. Therefore, in accordance with Spanish regulations, a 40% reduction was applied to the imposed fine. 

The REMIT Regulation prohibits market manipulation and seeks to protect the integrity and transparency of the EU’s wholesale energy markets.

In its decision, CNMC found that Enet Energy S.A. had breached Article 5 of REMIT for attempting to manipulate the Spanish organised gas market. The market participant inserted sell orders at low prices and significantly high volumes around 17:30, to give false or misleading signals regarding the supply and price level at which gas was being traded at that specific moment of the trading session (17:30) in MIBGAS. This is the time at which market reference indices are calculated, including the market price index for natural gas traded at the Spanish Virtual Hub (PVB) by the agency ICIS HEREN. 

What are the main findings?

The investigation showed that, in eight trading sessions of the Spanish day ahead gas market between 24 April and 18 May 2023, Enet Energy S.A. placed a large volume of sell orders around 17:30. Their low prices (ranging from -2.50 €/MWh on 2 May to -16.00 €/MWh on 17 May, compared to the sell price of the immediately preceding orders) caused a drop relative to the prevailing market trend in an attempt to influence the price references at that specific time. Seconds later, the market participant introduced new sell orders at higher prices (with a price increase over their offer at around 17:30, ranging from +2.00 €/MWh on 24 April to +12.00 €/MWh on 11 May), modifying in just a few seconds the price signal previously transmitted to the market.

CNMC concluded that Enet Energy S.A., through its sell orders at low prices and significantly high volumes, attempted to manipulate the Spanish organised gas market prices at the reference time used for calculating market indices, including the PVB reference price published by ICIS HEREN.

This is the fourth decision from CNMC sanctioning the manipulation or attempt of manipulation of a reference price on the Spanish gas market (see previous decisions in 2018 here and here, and in 2024).

Access CNMC’s Decision and press release (both in Spanish).

See the latest table of REMIT breach sanction decisions adopted by national regulatory authorities.

Check the ACER REMIT Guidance (6.1^st edition) for more information on trading practices that could constitute market manipulation under REMIT.

Interested in further information on enforcement decisions under REMIT? Check out ACER’s REMIT Quarterly reports.

This report on gas network use provides a comprehensive overview of capacity booking and usage trends in the EU, exploring how diversified supply, demand shifts and evolving capacity booking strategies are reshaping gas flows across the EU.

This monitoring report compares gas capacity use and booking data from 2021 to mid-2025 and analyses the main market shifts triggered by the energy crisis in 2022 (e.g. phase-out of Russian natural gas, increase in liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports, and lower gas demand). It also examines the impact of ending Russian gas transit via Ukraine as of 1 January 2025 on flow dynamics and capacity use across Southeast Europe.

What are the key findings? 

The EU’s integrated gas system has proven resilient to the energy crisis, reconfiguring its gas flows in response to changing supply and demand patterns. 

• Europe’s reliance on Russian gas pipeline imports has fallen from circa 40% to 6% of total imports since 2021.
• Since the end of 2021, gas flows have reversed direction at 40% of gas interconnection points across the EU, driven by the phasing out of Russian pipeline gas.
• Lower gas demand and increasing LNG’s supply reduced transit flows in some countries, leading to fewer capacity bookings and putting upward pressure on tariffs.
• Capacity bookings are adapting to new gas market conditions. Many long-term legacy contracts are expiring or have been terminated due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Instead shippers are now securing capacities on alternative routes through auctions underpinned by the EU-wide capacity allocation mechanism (CAM) network code.
• Lower pipeline congestion at EU level, but some supply bottlenecks persist. Infrastructure upgrades and lower gas demand have eased the peak congestion that affected Northwest Europe in 2022. Since 2024, high network use in Southeast Europe (including increased gas volumes to Ukraine in 2025 following the end of Russian gas transit), created significant congestion risks at several interconnection points in the region.

What are ACER’s recommendations?

• Transmission system operators (TSOs) should enhance transparency and coordination in gas capacity optimisation.
• National regulators should ensure a full and consistent application of the EU rules (CAM network code) without exceptions to maintain a transparent, predictable, and standardised capacity allocation process, fostering competition and integration of EU gas market.
• Future gas infrastructure investment by Member States should be targeted to solve persistent bottlenecks, align with the EU’s energy and climate goals and ensure security of supply. Regulators must ensure transparent and efficient distribution of congestion revenues to reduce and stabilise tariffs for European network users.

What are the next steps?

ACER will provide its next key developments in European gas wholesale markets report in early 2026. See the Q3 2025 monitoring report, also published this week.  

Published today, ACER’s latest report on key developments in European gas wholesale markets examines key trends in gas supply, demand and market prices during the final months of the gas summer season (July to September 2025). The analysis helps inform policies aimed at ensuring secure and competitively priced gas in the EU. 

What trends did ACER monitoring find? 

• Wholesale prices and volatility declined, marking one of the calmest periods for European gas markets in recent years. Higher gas imports, stable consumption and orderly storage filling contributed to this stability.
• Gas storage: Injections into underground storage exceeded levels of the previous two summers. European stocks reached 82% capacity, below levels at the start of the last three heating seasons, leaving EU markets more reliant on imports this winter.
• LNG imports: Liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports rose by 38% year-on-year amid high storage demand and lower Russian pipeline supply. Stable demand from other major buyers and rising global LNG production contributed to lower prices despite higher import volumes.
• EU gas market integration drove gas flows in the right direction to Central and Eastern Europe: As LNG’s share of supply grew, gas flows were redirected eastward to markets with limited or no direct LNG access, reflecting wholesale market signals (from lower- to higher-priced hubs).

Today, ACER initiates the review of its Decision 30/2020 on the electricity redispatching and countertrading cost sharing methodology for the Core capacity calculation region.  

What is a capacity calculation region?

A capacity calculation region is a set of electrically interdependent bidding zone borders, where capacity calculation, regional operational security, redispatching and countertrading costs sharing tasks are coordinated by that region’s transmission system operators (TSOs).

The Core capacity calculation region involves the TSOs and bidding zone borders of Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia. It is the biggest European region, involving 13 Member States, 16 TSOs and 19 bidding zone borders.

What is the methodology about? 

The cost sharing methodology allocates the costs from redispatching and countertrading remedial actions within a capacity calculation region. These actions are triggered to solve network congestions occurring within the region. 

Specifically, this methodology tracks how each action affects congested network elements and assigns the related costs to the responsible TSOs, based on the order of flow types (loop, internal, allocated and power-shifting transformer flows). Loop flows are charged first, however according to the Electricity Regulation, its portion below a given threshold is exempted.

Why amend the methodology?

On foot of the ACER Board of Appeal Decision of 31 July 2025, ACER is now revising its Decision 30/2020 and the methodology accordingly.

What are the next steps?

ACER aims to adopt its Decision by the end of January 2026.