RegulatorEuropeSpain
Spain's regulator CNMC asks the government to soften the 80% hourly-renewables rule in its data-centre decree
The CNMC's report on the draft royal decree for data centres (IPN/CNMC/038/26, dated 22 September) backs conditions on new sites but asks for changes. The draft requires each hour's consumption to be at least 80% matched by renewable output, and 80% of annual use to come from new Spanish renewables commissioned no earlier than 18 months before the site opens; persistent shortfalls could cost a site its grid permits. The CNMC says hours with renewable surpluses or prices of €20/MWh or less could count as met, the new-renewables rule could start lower or phase in to 2030, flexibility should count, and projects already holding grid permits need more than the six months the draft gives them. It notes almost 600 hours of negative day-ahead prices in the first half of 2026.
Why it matters. Spain has granted data centres 6.3 GW of transmission access, none yet connected. Ireland already requires 80% additional renewables on an annual basis; Spain's draft adds hourly matching, so how far the final text bends decides how much of that pipeline gets built.
Our data addsOur energy-rules table carries the draft's 80% hourly rule from a secondary source (pv magazine); the CNMC report now confirms the terms. Red Eléctrica: 6,329 MW of transmission access granted to data centres, none in service (1 Oct). Spain's 38 data centres reporting under the EU scheme had 103 MW of IT capacity (2024). /europe/data-centre-energy-rules → /europe/data-centre-grid-queues → /europe/countries/spain →
Sources: CNMC, report IPN/CNMC/038/26 on the draft data-centre royal decree, 22 September 2026 · CNMC report (PDF), 22 September 2026 · La Moncloa, Council of Ministers reference (dissolution and election call), 5 October 2026
Next: Council of Ministers approval of the royal decree (no date set); the Cortes were dissolved on 5 October for a general election on 29 November