Eléctricas de Medellín Ingeniería y Servicios S.A.S. v. Republic of Honduras, ICSID Case No. ARB/24/24

Short Name:

Eléctricas de Medellín v. Honduras

Country in which this occurs:
Honduras
Applicable arbitration rules:
Seat of Arbitration:
Economic sector:
Amount of damages:
US $0

Available documents

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8 Feb 2024
  • PDFNew Notice of Intent
Details
PARTICIPANTS
  • PDFNew Notice of Intent
Participants listed for this document only; this may not include all participants involved in the entire case.
Claimant appointee
Claimant appointee:
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Sole Arbitrator
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Document Summary
  • PDFNew Notice of Intent
This summary note is machine-generated. Always consult the original materials.


14 Jun 2024
  • PDFNew Request for Arbitration
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PARTICIPANTS
  • PDFNew Request for Arbitration
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Claimant appointee
Claimant appointee:
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Tribunal/Panel chair
Chair/President:
Arbitrator(s)
Sole Arbitrator
ICSID Annulment Committee president
ICSID Annulment Committee members
WTO Appellate Body members
WTO Appellate Body chair
Judges
Respondent's counsel
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Document Summary
  • PDFNew Request for Arbitration
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2 Jul 2024
Registration of the Request for the Institution of Arbitration Proceedings at ICSID
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Sole Arbitrator
ICSID Annulment Committee president
ICSID Annulment Committee members
WTO Appellate Body members
WTO Appellate Body chair
Judges
Respondent's counsel
Other counsel
Claimant's expert
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Claimant's witness
Respondent's witness
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This summary note is machine-generated. Always consult the original materials.


15 Jan 2025
  • PDFNew Procedural Order No. 1 (Spanish)
Details
PARTICIPANTS
  • PDFNew Procedural Order No. 1 (Spanish)
Participants listed for this document only; this may not include all participants involved in the entire case.
Claimant appointee
Claimant appointee:
Respondent appointee
Respondent appointee:
Tribunal/Panel chair
Chair/President:
Arbitrator(s)
Sole Arbitrator
ICSID Annulment Committee president
ICSID Annulment Committee members
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WTO Appellate Body chair
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Document Summary
  • PDFNew Procedural Order No. 1 (Spanish)
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11 Jun 2025
  • PDFNew Procedural Order No. 2 (Decision on Bifurcation) (Spanish)
Details
PARTICIPANTS
  • PDFNew Procedural Order No. 2 (Decision on Bifurcation) (Spanish)
Participants listed for this document only; this may not include all participants involved in the entire case.
Claimant appointee
Claimant appointee:
Respondent appointee
Respondent appointee:
Tribunal/Panel chair
Chair/President:
Arbitrator(s)
Sole Arbitrator
ICSID Annulment Committee president
ICSID Annulment Committee members
WTO Appellate Body members
WTO Appellate Body chair
Judges
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Claimant's expert
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Claimant's witness
Respondent's witness
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Document Summary
  • PDFNew Procedural Order No. 2 (Decision on Bifurcation) (Spanish)
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27 Jan 2026
  • PDFNew Procedural Order No. 1 – Annex B Revised
Details
PARTICIPANTS
  • PDFNew Procedural Order No. 1 – Annex B Revised
Participants listed for this document only; this may not include all participants involved in the entire case.
Claimant appointee
Respondent appointee
Tribunal/Panel chair
Arbitrator(s)
Sole Arbitrator
ICSID Annulment Committee president
ICSID Annulment Committee members
WTO Appellate Body members
WTO Appellate Body chair
Judges
Claimant's counsel
Respondent's counsel
Other counsel
Claimant's expert
Respondent's expert
Claimant's witness
Respondent's witness
Other witnesses
Tribunal secretary
Tribunal assistant
Country
Print reporter
Entities
Document Summary
  • PDFNew Procedural Order No. 1 – Annex B Revised
This summary note is machine-generated. Always consult the original materials.


Case Summary
This summary note is machine-generated. Always consult the original materials.

The dispute arises from an investment by the Colombian company, Eléctricas de Medellín Ingeniería y Servicios S.A.S. (EDEMSA), in the Honduran electricity distribution sector. The claim is brought against the Republic of Honduras under the investment chapter of the Free Trade Agreement between Colombia and the republics of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras (TLC). The investment originates from a 2016 Public-Private Partnership contract awarded to a consortium led by EDEMSA, which operated through its Honduran-constituted vehicle, Empresa Energía Honduras S.A. de C.V. (EEH). The seven-year concession contract was designed to address Honduras’s critical problem of high energy losses in its national distribution network. The contract mandated EEH to manage the distribution network, invest in its modernization, and implement a program to reduce technical and non-technical losses. The remuneration structure included a fixed monthly fee, reimbursement for investments, and performance-based success fees for loss reduction and recovery of bad debt. The Claimants assert that they successfully executed the contract, achieving significant operational improvements. According to their Notice of Intent, these successes included a substantial reduction in the frequency and duration of power interruptions, a 9.39 percentage point reduction in overall energy losses, the collection of over US$7.1 billion in revenue for the state utility (ENEE), and the investment of millions in network upgrades. Despite this performance, the Claimants allege that Honduras engaged in a series of escalating measures that frustrated the contract, destroyed the value of the investment, and breached its treaty obligations. The core of the complaint is that Honduras, through its state-owned utility ENEE, consistently failed to pay the full contractual fixed monthly fee, remitting only a partial amount throughout the contract's term. Concurrently, Honduras failed to conduct a contractually mandated study (VAD) that was necessary to adjust payments, effectively locking the investor into an underfunded operational model. Furthermore, the Claimants allege that Honduras implemented adverse regulatory and legislative changes. The energy regulator, CREE, issued new regulations that unilaterally altered the terms for recovering losses from irregular consumption. Politically, the government is accused of orchestrating a takeover of the contract's technical oversight committee, creating a conflict of interest by placing ENEE in control. This committee then used a report from a supervisor, Manitoba Hydro International, which allegedly applied a flawed and retroactively altered formula, to declare EEH in default of its loss-reduction targets. Based on these allegedly unfounded defaults, the Honduran state agency SAPP initiated a formal “intervention” of the concession contract in September 2021, effectively seizing operational control from the investor. This intervention was repeatedly extended. The situation escalated in May 2022 when the Honduran Congress passed a special law that legislatively declared EEH to be in breach of its contract, called for criminal investigations, and effectively repudiated the state's contractual obligations. The Claimants also allege a state-sponsored campaign of public denigration that incited aggression against EEH’s personnel and property. Following the contract's expiration, Honduras allegedly continued its hostile actions by unlawfully calling a US$10 million performance guarantee and imposing over US$139 million in penalties without due process. The Claimants argue that this series of actions amounts to a denial of fair and equitable treatment, a failure to provide full protection and security, discriminatory treatment compared to domestic and other foreign investors, and an indirect expropriation of their investment without compensation. They seek damages in excess of US$500 million, representing unpaid fees, the value of their investment, and other losses.