Spain’s government intends to proceed with a decree regulating data centres before an early parliamentary election on 29 November, Digital Transformation Minister Oscar Lopez said on 8 October, Reuters reported. Lopez told a conference on artificial intelligence that the decree would not require parliamentary approval. Ministries were still reviewing submissions to a public consultation and working towards a common position, he said.
Key points
- Lopez said the government intends to advance a data centre decree without parliamentary approval.
- The Ministry of Ecological Transition closed consultation in September on draft rules for data centres’ access to the electricity grid.
- Industry association Spain DC estimates that projects worth nine billion euros could be affected.
- Spain’s early parliamentary election is set for 29 November.
Lopez sets out the decree route
“The government’s intention is to move forward with that decree,” Lopez told the conference. His account of the work still under way places the government’s stated intention ahead of an agreed position among its ministries. The route he described would allow the government to act without a vote in a parliament facing an early election.
Spain is seeking data-centre investment while addressing the industry’s use of electricity and water. The government has drafted tougher rules on both, Reuters reported. For prospective operators, the electricity proposals bear directly on whether facilities can connect to the grid. The terms of access matter particularly where several kinds of project are seeking capacity from the same infrastructure.
The election has already raised a question for companies about the timing of energy regulations in development. Their concern is that approval could be delayed and a subsequent government could decide whether to keep, change or revive measures affecting long-term investments, SUR in English reported on 6 October. Lopez’s account two days later put the data centre decree on the government’s intended route to approval, while leaving the ministries’ review in progress.
Madrid and Aragon face PP-opposed grid proposal
The Ministry of Ecological Transition closed its public consultation in September on draft rules for data centres’ access to the electricity grid. The proposed royal decree would impose stricter requirements on facilities seeking access, SUR in English reported. Madrid and Aragon would be particularly affected. The PP party has opposed the draft.
Industry association Spain DC estimates that projects worth nine billion euros could be affected if the rules proceed in their current form, as companies consider other locations. Industry sources told SUR in English that the draft had brought interest in investment in Spain to an abrupt halt. Those are the industry’s assessments of a proposal, rather than the result of a rule already in force.
Amazon Web Services and Microsoft have data-centre investments focused mainly on Aragon. Both companies say their plans there remain unchanged, but have urged Spain to protect long-term investment through legal certainty and predictable rules, Reuters reported. Their position separates existing plans from decisions on future projects, for which the proposed conditions of grid access would form part of an investment calculation.
Data-centre applications already represent a third of transmission-grid access capacity. Renewable generation, energy storage, industrial electrification and hydrogen projects are also seeking connections, while capacity is limited in some areas. The government’s data centre proposal sits within that wider contest for access, alongside work on how electricity and gas infrastructure is authorised.
The 29 November election and other grid decisions
The Ministry of Ecological Transition is also developing changes to procedures for approving electricity and gas infrastructure. That work covers the allocation of grid capacity, infrastructure authorisations and connection procedures. If it is not completed before the election, the measure would remain pending until the next government sets out its position.
The ministry has proposed allocation procedures for 15 grid nodes offering up to eleven GW of capacity. One proposal concerns Maciñeira in As Pontes, A Coruña, where 600 MW is available. Its draft ministerial order is undergoing public consultation. Lopez said on 8 October that ministries were still examining the submissions on the data centre rules and working on a common position.
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