The Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO) submitted to public consultation the draft Royal Decree that will regulate the energy, environmental and digital sovereignty conditions applicable to data centers in Spain.
The period for submitting comments began this Thursday, August 27, and will remain open until Friday, September 4, 2026. During this period, companies, associations, and other interested parties can submit comments before the proposal moves towards its approval by the Council of Ministers.
The regulation will generally apply to data centers with an access power of 1 MW or more . The threshold is based on the requested electrical power, as the objective is to regulate capacity allocation in the transmission and distribution networks.
One of the main requirements will be the obligation to cover at least 80% of total electricity consumption with renewable energy generation. Companies will be able to demonstrate this through some form of self-consumption or through one or more forward power purchase agreements for renewable electricity with producers whose facilities are located in Spain.
The requirement will not be limited to the annual balance. Data centers will also have to guarantee that, in each hour, at least 80% of the energy consumed is backed up by an equivalent volume of renewable electricity generated during that same hour.
The project also incorporates an additionality criterion. Plants linked to self-consumption or supply contracts must have a commissioning certificate dated no more than 18 months prior to the start of operations of the data center or the first use of the corresponding energy.
Power purchase agreements must identify the data center operator and the producers, detail the associated generation and storage facilities, and establish the formula used to meet demand. They must also have a minimum duration of ten years and be formalized through a public deed.
Financial products traded on organized markets whose renewable origin is justified exclusively by guarantees of origin will not be accepted as collateral.
These coverage, additionality, and time-of-use correlation requirements will apply as long as the share of renewable energy in the Spanish electricity system remains below 90% . Once that level is exceeded, permits may be granted without prior accreditation of these conditions, although the maximum number of consumption hours will be limited based on the recorded renewable penetration.
Under the microscope: boom in data center applications
The government's intervention comes after a sharp increase in electricity applications from the sector. Since the approval of Royal Decree-Law 8/2023, the transmission system operator has granted more than 6 GW of capacity to data centers.
In addition to that volume, approximately 6 GW have been granted since 2020 for distribution networks. In total, the sector now has approximately 12 GW of granted electrical capacity.
The figure far exceeds the forecasts for actual deployment. The Artificial Intelligence Strategy 2024 estimates that Spain will reach approximately 2.5 GW of computing power by 2030, equivalent to an electricity demand of between 3.5 and 4 GW.
Sector projections point in the same direction. Spain DC anticipated that installed capacity would increase from approximately 200 MW in 2024 to around 730 MW in 2026, with a potential of 2,537 MW by 2030.
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The gap between these projections and the 12 GW already granted has raised concerns about the possibility that projects lacking sufficient maturity are monopolizing connection points. According to the government, this situation could reduce capacity available for other consumption needs related to decarbonization and force a significant portion of the investments planned in the electricity grid plan to be allocated to further grid reinforcements.
With the opening of the public hearing, formal discussions with the sector now begin. The conditions may still be modified during the legislative process, but the project anticipates a change of course: data centers' access to the grid will be contingent upon their ability to incorporate new renewable energy generation, adjust their consumption, and comply with established environmental and digital parameters.
Other points not to lose sight of
The proposal also introduces energy efficiency and water sustainability requirements. Until the implementation of the future European labeling system, scheduled for August 2027, the participating centers must demonstrate an Energy Use Efficiency (EUE) ratio of 1.15 or lower and a Water Use Efficiency (WUE) ratio of 0.1 or lower.
Furthermore, facilities with a technological capacity of 500 kW or more will be required to submit annual reports on their energy performance, use of renewable energy sources, water footprint, and energy demand. This data must be submitted by May 15th and will be published on the MITECO website, except for information protected by trade secret and confidentiality regulations.
The text also incorporates conditions related to digital sovereignty. Among these, it requires that the responsible entity be established in the European Union and that certain operational data remain within the EU territory.
In the case of public sector information systems subject to the National Security Scheme, data, metadata, records, replicas and backups must be processed, stored and transferred exclusively within the European Union.
Failure to comply with the energy conditions may result in significant surcharges on tolls and electricity charges. If the additional renewable energy coverage falls below 20% of annual consumption, the surcharge can reach 500%.
When coverage is between 20% and 40%, it will be 400%; between 40% and 60%, 300%; and when it reaches between 60% and 80%, the increase will be 100%.
There will also be penalties for failing to comply with the time correlation requirements. If the hours without the required documentation represent less than 5% of the monthly total, the surcharge will be 10%. Between 5% and 20%, it will increase to 30%, and when the non-compliance is equal to or greater than 20%, it will reach 50%.
For each additional consecutive month the violation persists, the surcharge will increase by another ten percentage points. In significant and repeated cases, the Government may revoke access and connection permits.
The planned timeline doesn't only affect future projects. Applications that are still pending when the Royal Decree comes into effect will have three months to demonstrate compliance with the new conditions. If they fail to do so, they may be rejected after the corresponding request for correction and a hearing process.
Projects that already have permits but have not yet connected to the grid will have six months to adapt. After that period, the permits may expire and the deposited guarantees may be executed.
Alternatively, developers may withdraw their applications or permits within six months of the new framework coming into effect without losing those guarantees. This option aims to free up capacity reserved for projects that are unable to comply with the new framework.