The revised draft gives data centre operators six months to meet renewable-energy requirements after signing a grid-access contract. The 80% clean-power target remains, with longer deadlines for strategic European AI projects.
The draft raises the general threshold for the rules to apply from 1 megawatt to 10 MW of grid-access capacity, focusing the requirements on larger data centres. The initial proposal covered facilities from 1 MW. Facilities above 10 MW would have to use mostly renewable electricity until Spain’s energy mix reaches 90% renewables.
The proposed decree still requires operators to cover at least 80% of a centre’s total consumption through self-generation or renewable electricity bought from sources located in Spain. Spain’s Ministry for the Ecological Transition sent the revised text to the Council of State on 26 October 2026, after a public consultation that generated more than 600 submissions and a report from the National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC). The Council of State review is procedural; the draft has not yet become a final rule.
Several changes give operators more time or flexibility. Linked renewable plants could have been commissioned up to 36 months before a data centre opens, compared with 18 months under the first draft. The minimum contract duration would fall from 10 years to six. Battery storage would also count towards the 80% requirement, while existing solar plants could qualify regardless of when they were built if they had no long-term renewable power-purchase contracts when the decree takes effect.
The revised proposal also phases in the hourly matching of renewable supply and electricity use. Eligible operators could meet a 60% renewable threshold during peak hours until 31 December 2028. From 1 January 2029, the transitional threshold would rise to 70% during peak and flat-rate hours, before the general requirement reaches 80% hourly coverage at the end of the five-year transition. Reporting by elEconomista described the staged pathway as a response to the difficulty of matching data-centre demand with renewable generation hour by hour.
The draft followed criticism from data-centre developers and other industry participants that strict hourly matching could make projects harder to finance or operate. El País reported concerns over investment delays and potential claims if the original rules were adopted without changes.
Until the beginning of 2029, companies would get a six-month grace period after formalising a grid-access contract to meet the renewable-generation requirements. Projects forming part of EU initiatives and classed as strategic for digital sovereignty would have up to 60 months to introduce self-generation or buy renewable power.
Hourly matching requirements would be phased in over five years for companies that accept automatic power reductions. The system operator, Red Eléctrica, could disconnect covered centres during grid stress without compensation and would have to respect the response time the operator had communicated.
Water-use standards would follow the highest levels of the European labelling system. The draft also raises the transitional PUE limit from 1.15 to 1.25, with an adjustment for climate conditions. This allowance would apply until 31 December 2031 to facilities whose grid-access contracts are signed before 2029.
The proposal also requires data centres hosting the public sector’s most sensitive information to keep it within the European Union, while allowing remote technical support from outside the bloc when strictly necessary. The rules sit alongside other efforts to shape the economics of renewable energy, including Castilla y León’s solar levy.
Ministerio para la Transición Ecológica y el Reto Demográfico (Miteco) describes the Spanish proposal as the most ambitious and protective to date.
