• Endesa calls for better nuclear, grid investment frameworks
• Company's power plants, grid worked normally before outage
• Endesa's first-quarter profit beat expectations

MADRID, May 7 (Reuters) - The chief of Spanish power utility Endesa (ELE.MC) , opens new tab on Wednesday urged the country's policymakers to review the tax burden on nuclear plants and improve remuneration of investments in power grids in the wake of last week's unprecedented blackout.

The outage that hit the Iberian Peninsula on April 28 has reignited the debate over a plan to phase out all of Spain's reactors by 2035 and the need to invest so grids can handle growing solar and wind output.

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"We need a robust and resilient grid, which requires significant investments, along with fair remuneration," Chief Executive Jose Bogas said.

"A diversified and competitive generation mix is also crucial," he said.

"To this end, it is essential to review the taxation of nuclear power to ensure its economic viability so that it can provide security of supply for years to come," Bogas said.

On Tuesday, the nuclear lobby group asked policymakers to lower taxes, saying they make the plants unable to compete on the market.

Returns on investment in the grid should be raised to around 7.5% from the current 5.6% and a cap set on how much companies can invest has to be reviewed, Endesa - owned by Italian energy giant Enel (ENEI.MI) , opens new tab, said.

POWER OUTAGE

Endesa has been working closely with grid operator Red Electrica, owned by Redeia (REDE.MC) , opens new tab, to identify the cause of the power outage, Bogas told analysts on a call, adding that the system operator is responsible for guaranteeing the continuity and security of the electricity supply.

Bogas and finance chief Marco Palermo said that it is still too early to estimate how much the outage could cost the company.

That day, its power plants were operating in line with instructions from the grid operator and its distribution network was working normally.

"We believe that we were among the parties affected by the incident," Palermo said.

Endesa's first-quarter net profit doubled to 583 million euros ($662.00 million) from 292 million euros a year earlier, beating expectations.

($1 = 0.8807 euros)

https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/spains-endesa-beats-first-quarter-expectations-2025-05-07/