Spain is one of the most attractive countries to host data centers (CPDs) for bringing together a series of unique conditions. A boom that requires a real and solid infrastructure so that projects can be materialized in optimal conditions. With this scenario as a backdrop, the Government of Pedro Sánchez has taken advantage of the anti-crisis decree to include new demands for this type of project and a fee for capacity reservation with the purpose of alleviating one of the main problems faced by data centers in Spain: the bottleneck of access to the electricity grid.
The royal decree-law approved last Friday in an extraordinary Council of Ministers (pending validation by Congress) includes an additional first provision that anticipates that the Government must approve a specific royal decree with new requirements for energy, environmental, resilience, and digital sovereignty sustainability for data centers that connect to the electricity transmission and distribution network.
Specifically, the future decree would establish that data centers should meet a series of criteria to accredit their positive impact beyond energy consumption. They will be required to use renewable energy effectively —not just on paper—, incorporating both new capacity (additionality) and adjusting their consumption to the moments when that energy is available (hourly correlation). In addition, they must demonstrate energy efficiency, a sustainable use of water and a tangible contribution to the economy and society.
Data centers must effectively use renewable energy, incorporate new capacity, and adjust consumption to the moments when energy is available
To this is added a strategic element: projects will have to prove that they reinforce resilience and digital sovereignty, that is to say, that they contribute to a more secure technological ecosystem and less dependent on external actors.
The non-compliance with these requirements may lead to the loss of access and connection permits and/or to the penalties that are determined.
Connection points, a bottleneck
Spain's potential is undeniable. A privileged location for international connectivity, with direct access to fiber optic cables linking with Europe, America, and Africa; a solid energy infrastructure led by renewable energy sources; the availability of land and a regulatory environment favorable to digitalization and technological investment. However, despite the extensive list of strengths, there are aspects that urgently need to be solved, and one of the most pressing is the problem of connection points, which is the keystone of any data center project.
Connection points are the physical (and administrative) nodes that allow an installation to connect to the transmission or distribution network and receive the electrical power it requires continuously and safely. These connection points are a limited resource. And without a connection point to the electrical grid, a data center will not be able to operate, no matter how innovative it may be.
Here is the bottleneck. Each substation has a maximum capacity and, in many areas of the country, a good part of that capacity is already committed by industrial, energy, or other data center projects. Obtaining a connection point is not automatic: it requires administrative authorization, investments in network reinforcement, and deadlines that can extend for several years. For this reason, many announced projects still lack a clear execution schedule.
The Executive is aware that the access permits already granted to this type of projects far exceed the most ambitious deployment estimates for the coming years. Therefore, they intend to align the implementation of projects with high electricity consumption in the short term with a proportional deployment of new renewable generation.
Moncloa intends to synchronize the launch of high electricity consumption projects with a proportional deployment of new renewable generation
Otherwise, they understand that there would be a double detriment aggravated by the crisis derived from the Iran war. If electricity consumption increases a lot —for example, due to data centers— without adding new renewable energy, the system will have to draw more on gas to produce electricity. And that is a problem, especially at a time when gas is more expensive and unstable (as with the Strait of Hormuz crisis). Electricity would become more expensive and electrification would be slowed down. As things stand, Moncloa believes that, although data centers are key for the digital economy, they cannot increase electricity demand if there is no return.
A canon to filter projects
The Comprehensive Plan for Response to the Crisis in the Middle East, channeled through the Royal Decree 7/2026, also imposes a levy that will affect, among others, data center projects.
The text creates a monthly payment for reserving access to the electricity grid. That is to say, from the moment a company obtains permission to connect —even if it is not yet operating—, it has to start paying for that capacity. The amount of the fee depends on the power it has requested and may vary according to the type of connection or the time it takes to launch the project.
With this measure, companies are prevented from requesting capacity ‘just in case’ and blocking it without using it. The money is not lost, since when the project begins to operate, it is discounted from what they will later have to pay for using the network. Meanwhile, the collected funds will be used to finance the electricity system itself.
With the fee, the Government wants to prevent companies from requesting capacity 'just in case' and blocking it without using it
An appraised calendar
In addition to the economic element, the decree includes a fixed calendar with a series of milestones regarding access and connection permits to the electrical grid, both for generation projects and for large consumers. If within a period of five years from obtaining the permit they are not ready to operate, they automatically lose it.
In this way, projects are obliged to develop on time and in due form. Exceptions are only considered for more complex technologies, such as hydraulic pumping or offshore wind, which have longer deadlines due to their greater technical difficulty.
In addition, it is also established that an operational facility can lose the permit if it stops feeding electricity to the grid for more than three years due to causes attributable to the owner.
But where the decree tightens especially is on large electricity consumers —such as data centers could be—. In these cases, permits will also automatically expire if a series of milestones are not met within very specific deadlines. For example, if in the first year a relevant part of the investment necessary for network infrastructures is not paid, the permit is lost. The same happens if in three years the contract to develop the connection is not signed or if in four years the definitive access to the network is not formalized.
Furthermore, the text closes the door to substantial changes in projects once the permit has been granted. If an installation is modified significantly —for example, changing location by more than 10 kilometers, altering its economic activity or notably reducing the requested power—, it will be considered a different project and, therefore, will lose the original permits.
In conjunction, all these measures pursue the same objective: that the capacity for access to the electricity grid remains in the hands of real and viable projects, and not of initiatives that are delayed, are transformed or simply do not come to fruition.