Spain: The race for grid access for data centres is on

​​​​​​​​​​​​Published on 5th December 2024​

Due to the low price of electricity, Spain is currently very popular not only with hydrogen producers, but also with data centres. Applications to connect new consumers to the electricity grid for data processing centres or storage facilities are increasing rapidly.
 
The associated risk of applicants applying for permits to connect to the grid even though they have no intention of carrying out the projects applied for has already been recognised by the Spanish government: In order to prevent speculation with licences for grid access, the Spanish government has already taken measures in Royal Decree Law 08/2023 to curb abusive applications. For example, interested parties who have applied for connection to a grid with a voltage of at least 36 kV must deposit a security. The security will only be released as soon as the applicant is actually connected to the grid. In a​ddition, the new law stipulates that connection authorisations expire if a contract for technical access to a quantity of electricity corresponding to at least 50% of the access capacity of the authorisation is not concluded within 5 years. Furthermore, the actual location of the electricity consumer (data centre, battery) must not be more than 10 km away from the location specified in the application. Speculation with the grid access points should be clearly prevented.

Despite these legislative measures, it can be assumed that the race for the coveted grid access points on the Iberian Peninsula will continue. Demand remains unbroken. Major players in the data processing sector such as Google, Amazon and Microsoft have already announced that they will invest in large-scale data processing projects in Spain.

A tender for network access points for large consumers at 10 hubs in Spain is also expected in January 2025.​
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