The Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO) has announced the opening of the public consultation and information process for the draft Royal Decree that will modify the regulatory framework for Energy Saving Certificates (CAE).
The proposal seeks to adapt the system to the experience accumulated since its implementation, align it with the new European Energy Efficiency Directive, and establish comprehensive regulations for future energy savings auctions.
“We launched a proposal that enriches, clarifies and strengthens the CAE system,” highlighted the Secretary of State for Energy, Joan Groizard.
The official noted that the mechanism has proven to be especially useful in improving competitiveness and accelerating industrial decarbonization, as well as mobilizing investments in building renovation, shared and electric mobility, and air conditioning systems using heat pumps.
Royal Decree 36/2023 created Energy Efficiency Certificates (CAEs) as a voluntary and complementary means to contributions to the National Energy Efficiency Fund (FNEE). Each certificate verifies one kilowatt-hour of annual final energy savings and can be used by obligated entities to cover part of their efficiency commitments.
Two types of auctions
The main innovation of the project is the development of a complete chapter on energy-saving auctions. Although the existing framework already included this tool, the reform now differentiates between two modalities with distinct operations and objectives.
The commitment auctions will allow for the allocation of the obligation to generate new energy savings through a specific technology, action, or social criterion. Participants will compete for an additional premium, expressed in euros per kilowatt-hour saved.
Once the project has been completed and certified, the successful bidder will be entitled to receive the premium, but will retain ownership of the CAE certificates. Therefore, they may transfer them on the secondary market or redeem them for savings bonds, just like any other certificate.
In the energy needs auctions, however, the State Secretariat for Energy will directly contract for a specific volume of energy savings. Winners will compete for the amount they request to generate each kilowatt-hour, but the savings will be paid for upon certification and cannot be traded afterward.
These latter will be in addition to the ordinary obligations of the National System of Energy Efficiency Obligations.
According to Groizard, the calls for proposals will be "very specific and exceptional" and will be used when the Administration identifies the need to promote a specific action.
Auctions closed and under the supervision of the CNMC
The draft proposes a sealed-bid, pay -as-bid mechanism, whereby each successful bidder will receive the price included in their proposal.
The Administration may establish reserve prices to exclude excessively expensive bids and risk prices to avoid abnormally low or economically unviable proposals. Both values may be kept confidential.
The National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC) will act as supervisor and must validate both the procedure and the outcome. Its report will be binding, and a negative assessment will invalidate the call for tenders.
The entity responsible for administering the auctions will be the operator of the CAE system's electronic platform. The framework approved by Royal Decree-Law 7/2026 already provisionally authorized OMIE and MIBGAS—jointly or through a subsidiary—to develop and manage that platform.
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Only delegated entities and those obligated entities authorized to request savings certification may participate. Furthermore, they must submit participation guarantees and, if selected, guarantees linked to the fulfillment of the awarded commitments.
The text also obliges the Government to publish an indicative auction schedule for the following two years, with the products and volumes planned, and to update it at least once a year.
The projects receiving funding must begin after the auction has taken place. As a general rule, the compensation received is incompatible with other aid intended for the same investment. Calls for proposals may allow justified exceptions for initiatives aimed at vulnerable consumers, small and medium-sized enterprises, or projects with particularly significant emission reductions.
Greater traceability and price transparency
Beyond the auctions, the project introduces relevant modifications to the daily functioning of the market.
The reform expressly recognizes the figure of the savings aggregator as an intermediary that acquires the savings generated by the original owners to subsequently transfer them to an obligated or delegated entity.
The transfer must be formalized through a contract and include consideration for the original owner, with the aim of demonstrating the incentive effect and maintaining full traceability to the CAE applicant.
Certificate transfers must be reported to the National Coordinator within five business days, including the transaction price. Although individual prices will be kept confidential, the system will periodically publish information on the average selling price of CAEs.
The future electronic platform will centralize the National Register of CAE, certification requests, the transmission and settlement of certificates, the accounting associated with each auction, and the monitoring of files by the regional managers.
The reinforcement of this infrastructure is a response to the rapid growth in activity. The Government itself indicated when approving Royal Decree-Law 7/2026 that the number of cases had increased from approximately 700 in 2024 to around 4,000 in 2025, with projections exceeding 8,000 during 2026.
New deadlines, inspections and sanctions regime
The proposal extends the deadline for requesting the settlement of certificates against the annual obligation until March 20 of the following year. If an obligated entity does not have sufficient CAE (Economic Activity Certificates), it must pay the FNEE (National Fund for Energy Efficiency) the outstanding financial equivalent before March 31.
The deadlines for regional and national processing are also detailed, the legal, technical and financial requirements of the delegated entities are reinforced, and the sub-delegation of their commitments is expressly prohibited.
The draft also includes a specific chapter on inspection and sanctions. The State Secretariat for Energy will be able to review both the files and the accreditation of participating agents, without prejudice to the powers of the autonomous communities. Any irregularities detected may give rise to sanctioning procedures in accordance with Law 18/2014.
The public hearing will remain open between September 3 and 23, 2026. Interested individuals and entities must submit their comments using the form provided by the Administration .
Once the comments have been reviewed, the text must complete its legislative process and be approved by the Council of Ministers before entering into force. Therefore, the conditions described still constitute a regulatory proposal and could be modified during the procedure.