The draft Royal Decree through which the Spanish government wants to regulate the sustainability, efficiency, resilience, and digital sovereignty of data centers has triggered a strong reaction from operators and energy associations. The main point of contention is the requirement to back at least 80% of consumption with new renewable generation matched hour by hour, a demand that arrives just as APPA Renovables argues that Spain is wasting close to 25% of the electricity it could produce with these technologies. The text is still open for public consultation and may be amended before it is approved.
The new data center Royal Decree in 20 seconds
- The government proposes that 80% of consumption be backed hour by hour by new renewable generation.
- SpainDC warns the text could jeopardize a large share of future investment.
- APPA and UNEF question requiring new capacity while renewable output is being curtailed.
- The draft temporarily sets a PUE of 1.15 and a WUE of 0.1.
- Comments can be submitted until September 4, 2026.
The debate comes at an especially sensitive moment for Spain. The Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO) itself acknowledges that data centers have become necessary infrastructure for digitalization and European technological sovereignty, but it also notes that pressure on the electricity grid has grown rapidly.
Since late 2023, more than 6 GW of transmission-grid access capacity has been granted to data centers, and roughly another 6 GW in distribution capacity since 2020. The government believes that reserving that capacity without conditions could compete with the electrification of industry, transport, and households, and would raise the investment needed in grid infrastructure.
The disagreement, then, is not about whether data centers should be efficient or use renewable electricity. The criticism centers on how, when, and under what conditions the draft intends to make that happen.
The 80% renewable, hour-by-hour rule draws the sharpest criticism
The draft states that, for as long as renewables do not exceed 90% of Spain’s electricity mix, new data centers falling within its scope will have to certify that at least 80% of their consumption is covered by renewable electricity.
But contracting existing renewable capacity would not be enough.
MITECO is proposing an additionality criterion: every new megawatt of consumption would have to be backed by new renewable capacity brought online within the 18 months before the data center starts operating. That electricity could come from self-consumption or from long-term contracting instruments such as PPAs (Power Purchase Agreements).
On top of that comes a second, especially demanding condition: hourly correlation. For every hour of operation, it would need to be certified that at least 80% of consumption is matched to renewable generation produced during that same hour.
For the renewable energy associations consulted, that is where a paradox appears.
José María González Moya, director general of APPA Renovables, argues that close to 25% of the electricity that could be produced with renewable technologies is currently going to waste because of technical and economic curtailment. In his view, requiring data centers’ electricity to necessarily come from new generation could prevent the use of renewable power that is already installed but, at certain times, finds no demand.
José Donoso, director general of the Spanish Photovoltaic Union (UNEF), agrees that there should be more flexibility, and that hybridized storage should also be factored in.
The difficulty grows when trying to match generation and consumption hour by hour.
According to data provided by APPA, between 2022 and 2025 Spain added close to 32 GW of solar photovoltaic capacity, including self-consumption, compared with 4.6 GW of wind, while dispatchable technologies such as biomass or hydropower barely increased their capacity.
Solar power has an obvious limitation for a data center that runs 24 hours a day: it stops generating at night.
Meeting high correlation levels around the clock would require combining solar, wind, storage, dispatchable generation, and contracts with different production profiles. The renewable sector is precisely calling for the development of batteries, pumped hydro, small hydro, or biomass to be part of the equation.
The government makes a different argument. It believes that new, large-scale electricity demand should be accompanied by new generation, to prevent data centers from absorbing renewable electricity that is already being used to decarbonize other types of consumption.
The discussion, then, is less about using renewables than about whether data centers should finance new capacity equivalent to their growth, or whether they can first make better use of the generation that is already available.
PUE of 1.15 and WUE of 0.1: another technical battle
Contracted energy is not the only contentious point.
Until the future European data center labeling system, expected for August 2027, comes fully into force, the Spanish draft proposes transitional maximum values of a PUE of 1.15 and a WUE of 0.1.
PUE, or Power Usage Effectiveness, measures the ratio between all the energy a data center uses and the energy consumed specifically by its IT equipment. The closer it is to 1, the proportionally smaller the share of energy going to cooling, power distribution, and other auxiliary systems.
WUE, Water Usage Effectiveness, measures the efficiency of water consumption.
The problem some operators point to is that hitting very low values on both indicators at the same time is not straightforward.
Nacho Velilla, CEO of Templus, argues that a PUE of 1.15 can be achieved in hyperscale facilities or those dedicated to a single customer, but considers it very difficult to apply it broadly to colocation facilities, where different customers use different infrastructure and power densities.
The National Association of Energy Efficiency Companies (ANESE) also considers the thresholds very demanding relative to the sector’s current average situation.
There is also a trade-off between electricity and water. Certain evaporative cooling systems can greatly improve energy efficiency but consume water. Lowering both PUE and WUE at the same time may require solutions such as direct-to-chip liquid cooling, closed-loop systems, or architectures specifically designed for high densities.
MITECO maintains that the limits correspond to the values planned for category A of the future European labeling system, although that EU-wide scheme is still under development. Once it comes into force, the Spanish rule would drop the transitional limits and require exactly that top European category.
SpainDC warns of investment that could go elsewhere
The harshest reaction has come from SpainDC, an association that brings together more than 300 companies linked to Spain’s data center industry.
The organization has announced it will file objections and believes that the combination of renewable additionality, hourly correlation, energy efficiency, water consumption, contractual conditions, and possible surcharges could leave Spain in a less competitive position compared with other European countries.
Its president, Emilio Díaz, also draws attention to projects that began their permitting process under different conditions.
As a general rule, the draft gives certain projects already in the pipeline six months to adapt to the new requirements, a period that drops to three months for some projects still awaiting access tenders. Otherwise, they have the option of giving up their access and connection rights without having their guarantees executed.
SpainDC argues that projects of this kind can spend years lining up land, financing, permits, energy contracts, and equipment, which is why it considers it difficult to change their structural conditions within a few months.
The association had previously estimated that Spain could mobilize €66.9 billion in cumulative direct and indirect investment between 2026 and 2030 under a business-as-usual scenario.
It is now raising the alarm much further, estimating that if the draft were approved unchanged, between 80% and 90% of the new investment that might otherwise choose Spain as a destination could be at risk.
That figure is SpainDC’s own estimate, not an official forecast or investment that has already been committed. Its size depends on the assumptions the association used and on developers’ future decisions.
Begoña Villacís, SpainDC’s executive director, also raises an issue tied to digital sovereignty: if Spanish demand for cloud and AI keeps growing but the infrastructure is built in other countries, those services will still be consumed from Spain even though the computing happens elsewhere.
The government is pursuing exactly the opposite goal. Its draft includes requirements for operators to be established within the European Union and for certain operational data to remain within EU territory. For public-sector information systems subject to Spain’s National Security Framework (ENS), data, metadata, logs, replicas, and backups will have to be kept within the EU under the conditions set out in the text.
A regulation still open to change
Timing has been another source of frustration.
The public consultation period began on August 27, 2026 and ends on September 4, 2026, after the government opted for an urgent procedure. APPA, ANESE, SpainDC, and companies in the sector consider that too little time to study a rule that could affect projects with combined investments ranging from hundreds of millions to billions of euros.
SpainDC has asked for the deadline to be extended and for a technical working group to be set up with the administration.
Equinix has taken a more cautious stance, expressing its willingness to work with the authorities while it waits to see the final text.
The document under discussion is not yet an approved Royal Decree. It is a draft undergoing public consultation and may be amended before it reaches the Council of Ministers.
Nor would it be accurate to conclude that the government intends to halt data center development. The impact report accompanying the process itself describes them as assets necessary for digitalization, artificial intelligence, and European technological sovereignty.
The disagreement lies in how to manage electricity demand that already exceeds 12 GW of granted capacity between transmission and distribution, on top of new requests that keep coming in, without harming other electrification efforts.
Spain has abundant renewable generation and, at the same time, records hours when part of that output cannot be used. The debate opened by the new Royal Decree is whether the priority should be forcing every large new consumer to add an equivalent amount of its own generation, or combining that additionality with better use of existing renewable electricity, storage, and a grid capable of moving it to where it is needed.
The comments submitted before September 4, 2026 will determine how far the government is willing to shift that balance.
Frequently asked questions
What does the new Royal Decree require of data centers?
The draft sets requirements for energy and water efficiency, digital sovereignty, and renewable consumption. For as long as renewables do not exceed 90% of the mix, it proposes covering at least 80% of consumption with new renewable generation matched hour by hour.
Has the data center Royal Decree already been approved?
No. The text is in the public consultation phase, and comments can be submitted until September 4, 2026. It may then be amended before it is eventually approved.
What do a PUE of 1.15 and a WUE of 0.1 mean?
They are proposed transitional limits for energy efficiency and water consumption. The government ties them to the top category planned under the future European data center labeling system.
Could the rule trigger an exodus of investment?
SpainDC believes that, if the current text is kept as is, between 80% and 90% of new investment that could otherwise be located in Spain might be at risk. That is the association’s own estimate, not an official forecast.
Sources: Data centers in Spain, Cdecomunicacion, and SpainDC.
