The monthly update published by Red Eléctrica on July 1, 2026, reorganized the access capacity map in the transport network and opened a new window for projects related to demand, storage, data centers, hydrogen and large industry.
According to analysis of the official REE publication, the national increases compared to the closing of June 3 are relevant in all regulated categories: 12405 MW additional in evacuation capacity, 20882 MW in NO-CEP demand and 32424 MW in storage , both in the MPE and MGES modality.
The data doesn't appear out of nowhere. It comes after weeks marked by regulatory changes, waivers of access and connection permits, project abandonments, and new technical criteria related to the robustness of installations against voltage dips.
The Spanish grid had been showing significant saturation on the demand side . The problem was not only due to the growth of new consumption, but also to the impact of large consumers and generators based on power electronics.
The key to the change lies in the new technical interpretation of that restriction.
In February, an order was passed in Spain requiring electrical installations to be more robust against voltage drops . The regulation allowed three months for its entry into force, which finally occurred on May 12.
From that moment on, Red Eléctrica began to recalculate the available capacity under a new hypothesis and this was reflected in the next capacity publication cycle, corresponding to June, when a very relevant amount of power available for demand appeared.
The magnitude was not insignificant. Initially, there was talk of around 10 GW , a figure equivalent to a quarter of Spain's electricity demand if consumption is taken as a reference point at around 40 GW.
The market reacted immediately. But a few days later, Red Eléctrica corrected that initial reading, explaining that the capacity was reserved under an article included in Royal Decree-Law 7/2026.
The latest development comes with Royal Decree-Law 18/2026 , which includes a repealing provision regarding the section that had blocked this capacity. Specifically, it eliminates section 6 of article 13 of Royal Decree-Law 7/2026, which had reserved part of that power.
The practical consequence is that the technical recalculation that Red Eléctrica had already been carrying out, based on more robust installations against voltage dips, is beginning to translate into available capacity for new demand requests.
Another factor contributing to this effect was the possibility for certain consumers to waive their reserved access and connection permits . The deadline for formalizing these waivers was June 22nd, and once they were submitted, the associated capacity became available again on Red Eléctrica's maps.
For industrial developers, data centers, hydrogen projects, storage, and large consumers , the signal is clear: the opportunity no longer lies solely in detecting where capacity exists, but in understanding why it appears, how long it can last, and under what technical conditions it will truly be usable.
Storage is also coming onto the radar
REE's update also reveals a substantial increase in storage . National capacity in this category rose from 100,108 MW to 132,532 MW , with a jump of 32,424 MW for both MPE and MGES .
In practice, this puts back under analysis substations that until the last publication appeared to have no margin or much more limited availability.
Among the nodes with the largest absolute increases for MPE storage are Villanueva del Rey , in Seville, with 828 MW released; Vitoria, in Álava, with 886 MW; Fuente de Cantos, in Badajoz, with 926 MW; Fuentebuena , in Burgos, with 905 MW; and San Serván , also in Badajoz , with 901 MW.
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The ranking also includes Aizpeitia , in Guipúzcoa, with 863 MW; Cotorros , in Burgos, with 797 MW; Penagos, in Cantabria, with 687 MW; Trives , in Ourense, with 785 MW; and El Palo, in Asturias, with 661 MW.
This geographical distribution shows that the change is not concentrated in a single corridor, but rather crosses different points of the transport network.
A great opportunity, but not automatic.
Following the release of capacity, Red Eléctrica will have to receive applications again regarding those nodes and assess which facilities get priority to access the available margin.
The movement sparks interest in initiatives linked to storage, flexible demand, industrial electrification, data centers and hydrogen, sectors that view each capacity upgrade as an opportunity to accelerate their grid entry.
Now, the capacity reorganization coincides with another fundamental regulatory move: the approval of Operating Procedure 7.6 for the autonomous start service, known as black start.
The CNMC approved the new PO 7.6 with the aim of modernizing and providing a remuneration framework to the facilities that provide this service within the Replacement Plans of the peninsular electricity system.
The procedure defines the scope, technical requirements, allocation, authorization, testing, availability, remuneration, penalties, and duration of service.
Black start is the ability of an installation to initiate the recovery of the electrical system after a power outage, without needing to receive external voltage from the grid.
Until now, this service existed within the replacement process, but it lacked a specific remuneration framework. The Replacement Plans already identified the facilities capable of initiating electrical islanding, but the service did not have a specific regulated remuneration.
The novelty should not be interpreted as an immediate open door for any asset.
The procedure establishes a two-phase implementation. The first phase will be a continuation of the current process and will be linked to the facilities that already participate in the existing Replacement Plans as island initiators.
Therefore, during this first stage, the economic opportunity will be concentrated in the assets already considered within those plans, mainly hydroelectric power plants with autonomous start-up capacity.
Phase 2 will allow for the incorporation of other facilities and technologies, but not automatically. Approximately five years after the start of Phase 1, the system operator will need to assess the need to incorporate new providers.
That second stage could also be activated earlier if there were resignations from current providers during the enablement process.
That's where the interest in storage comes in.
The procedure itself stipulates that, in Phase 2, the system operator will evaluate alternatives such as the partial allocation of the service to several generation or storage modules, provided that the necessary requirements for providing the service are guaranteed.
In practice, this means that PO 7.6 does not currently make batteries paid providers of black start services, but it does incorporate a relevant regulatory signal: the system is beginning to order non-frequency services that could open new monetization avenues for assets capable of providing resilience, flexibility, and technical capacity beyond energy arbitrage.