(Bloomberg) — The Spanish energy grid is reaching a saturation level, limiting the Mediterranean nation’s ambitions to develop into a European hub for knowledge facilities, an trade report confirmed.
Greater than 83% connection factors within the electrical energy distribution community can not deal with new hyperlinks, in keeping with a report from trade group Aelec, gathering knowledge from utilities together with Iberdrola and Endesa. The information refers to connection factors with greater than 1 kilovolt, as requested by the markets regulator CNMC.
The alert follows months of pressure between authorities and utilities over who was responsible for a large blackout that left the nation at the hours of darkness for a number of hours on the finish of April. Failure to attach new tasks to the grid can threaten their viability and lead buyers to rethink their plans, particularly for power-hungry knowledge facilities.
Spain has pitched itself as a hub for these tasks due to the excessive availability of low-cost renewable vitality and good telecommunications hyperlinks. Demand for knowledge facilities within the nation is anticipated to nearly double by 2028, in keeping with foyer group SpainDC. The group expects funding of as a lot as €58 billion ($68 billion) by way of 2030.
Know-how firms have already introduced multimillion-euro investments.
About half the requests to entry the grid in 2024, which amounted to greater than 67 GW, had been rejected on account of lack of capability, in keeping with Aelec. Nearly a 3rd of the submissions had been linked to knowledge facilities.
Following the publication of the info, the federal government stated that sufficient community entry permits have been granted to satisfy twice Spain’s electrical energy demand since 2020. Whole capability of such permits reached 43 GW, of which 12 GW had been for knowledge facilities, the Ministry for Environmental Transition stated in a textual content message.
Energy firms see a proposed enhance in assured returns from the grid to six.46% from 5.58% as inadequate to attract investments into the Spanish community.
It “severely undermines the power to compete with different international locations in attracting the capital wanted for electrification investments,” Aelec stated within the report.
In the meantime, the federal government is involved the trade is overestimating by a minimum of 3 times what Spain’s demand for knowledge middle capability will probably be within the subsequent 5 to seven years.
Deputy Prime Minister Sara Aagesen, answerable for the nation’s vitality coverage, has warned earlier this yr that Spain is dealing with a “knowledge middle bubble.” Nevertheless, authorities efforts to restrict hypothesis which will hinder the connection of recent tasks to the grid had been blocked by parliament.
Comparable measures are in place within the UK, the place the vitality regulator has allowed the grid operator to take away “zombie tasks” from the queue to attach.
