The return to work in September finds the electric mobility sector with several regulatory tasks already underway during the summer, but with an even deeper discussion beginning to take shape: what happens when projects that want to be electrified grow faster than the available capacity at certain points in the grid.
In just a few weeks, Spain has made significant moves. The CNMC approved the new flexible access scheme for demand, the government increased the scope for network investments , and progress was also made on measures to simplify administrative procedures. For CPOs, this comes after years in which power availability, permits, and the energization of substations became some of the biggest constraints on deployment.
Furthermore, the market closed the first quarter of 2026 with 55,077 operational public charging points and another 17,073 installed but out of service, according to ANFAC , while high-power projects multiply their connection needs and future truck hubs take the conversation directly into the realm of megawatts.
But the return from summer opens up another question: what happens when that hub is not alone?
“Since liberalization was established, both the law in Spain and the European Commission applied the criterion of temporal priority: first come, first served. This has been broken,” says Marina Serrano , president of the Association of Electricity Companies (AELEC), during the one-on-one interview with Mobility Portal and Energía Estratégica .
In the same territory, an ultra-fast hub, an industrial park, a logistics center, and a data center can all coexist, competing for capacity. Now, the maturity, strategic importance, and economic impact of each project are also becoming factors , as Europe moves toward models less tied to order of arrival.
“A distinction is beginning to be made between established industry, essential services, such as hospitals, police or public services, and what are called strategic projects,” Serrano explains.
For charging, the debate coincides with the leap towards multi-megawatt hubs and the high-power deployment that AFIR demands on the TEN-T network , especially for heavy transport.
The pressure is mounting because these projects share capacity with large consumers such as data centers, whose demands can reach tens or hundreds of megawatts. The challenge then becomes differentiating between mature initiatives and those that reserve capacity without ever materializing.
For CPOs, this can translate into roadblocks even with land, investment, and advanced permits.
“Introducing this element, which allows us to prioritize and address projects not just because they are the first to arrive, and to avoid monopolization, is positive. It is something that could also be improved in relation to charging points,” says the president of the association.
Summer moved pieces, but September will have to prove whether they reach the net
In August, the CNMC approved the new flexible access framework for demand , which comes into effect on September 1, 2026, and includes four modalities. Among them, type 2 allows large installations connected to distribution networks with more than 1 MW of modular capacity to combine firm and flexible capacity, managed through software, storage, or temporary load shedding.
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For hubs, this changes the project design: it's no longer just about how many megawatts the network guarantees, but what portion of consumption can be adapted. The scheme opens up space for behind-the-meter BESS and advanced management systems, although it doesn't eliminate the need to reinforce infrastructure.
“It is an important element, it will offer a lot of possibilities, but it must be complemented with investments,” Serrano warns.
That was another of the summer's developments. The government increased the investment limit for electricity networks , a measure requested by distributors to adapt their plans to the National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan (PNIEC) and the new demand. The change will allow for the review of programs already submitted for 2027 and enable them to bring forward purchases, contracts, and construction work.
At the same time, Spain is trying to reduce another bottleneck: permits . The practical guide for municipalities reiterated that local councils cannot require prior licensing when a self-declaration is sufficient. It also quantified the delays: between 24 and 36 months for medium-voltage installations and between 18 and 24 months for low-voltage installations.
At the same time, Spain is trying to reduce another bottleneck: permits . The practical guide for municipalities reiterated that local councils cannot require prior licensing when a self-declaration is sufficient. It also quantified the delays: between 24 and 36 months for medium-voltage installations and between 18 and 24 months for low-voltage installations.
But AELEC believes that simplification cannot be limited to local councils. The association participates in the working group on charging infrastructure and, just before summer, presented new proposals focused on permitting and energization.
Among its priorities is to expedite the part of the electrical installation that depends on the distributor, especially when the charger is already deployed but cannot yet enter service.
“It makes no sense to have charging points already installed that remain unenergized or that take too long to be energized,” Serrano argues.
Looking ahead to the coming months, AELEC also calls for greater uniformity in procedures between administrations.
“Essentially, we need to work on the processing of the electrical part of the installation and on coordination with the municipalities and the autonomous communities, because there is no homogeneous application throughout the territory,” says the president of the association.
For CPOs, hub planning thus adds variables that previously carried less weight: maturity, strategic nature, level of tension, firm or flexible access, storage, and competition with other large consumers.
The fight for the best locations is now mixed with another equally decisive one: that of megawatts .