New Spanish regulations – mandatory financial guarantees to the access and connectivity permits to develop a data centre in Spain

On 28 December 2023, Royal Decree-Law 8/2023 of 27 December 2023 was published ("Royal Decree-Law 8/2023"). This new provision affects the development of data centres in our country as they are facilities with a significant energy demand.

The number of data centres is growing exponentially in our country, especially since 2022. However, this new regulation imposes an obligation on those companies owning data centres that have already obtained their grid access and connection permits, which are essential for obtaining the huge amount of energy needed to carry out their activity.

Royal Decree-Law 8/2023 introduces in its third transitional provision the obligation to present guarantees for access and connection permits for demand facilities that have already been granted such permits. This requires that the connection point for which the permit has been granted must be at a voltage equal to or higher than 36 kV and that the access contract with the distributor or transporter has not yet been formalised.

For these purposes, access and connection permits for this type of facility are subject to article 23-bis of Royal Decree 1183/2020, of 29 December, on access and connection to electricity transmission and distribution networks ("Royal Decree 1183/2020"), which regulates the financial guarantees (either a bank guarantee or an insurance surety) for access and connection procedures for demand facilities (the “Guarantee”).

The owners of these permits will have a period of six (6) months from the entry into force of Royal Decree-Law 8/2023 to file the Guarantee to the competent body, a period that ends on 28 June 2024, and an additional six-month period to send the receipt accrediting the correct deposit issued by the administration to the network operator where the permit was obtained.

The amount guaranteed will depend on the power obtained in the permit since, in application of Royal Decree 1183/2020, the guarantee will be for an amount to 40 €/kV requested.

The processing of the guarantees will have to follow the procedure established by the autonomous community where the installation is located. If they are in a territory that affects more than one autonomous community, they shall be deposited in the General Depository.

For more information, please contact Conchita Sainz and Coral Yáñez, who will be able to assist you on any queries or legal needs you may have on this new regulation regarding the Spanish market.