Overview
- The Consejo de Estado approved its opinion unanimously on Friday, Nov. 6, removing the last procedural hurdle and enabling the government to take the draft royal decree to the Council of Ministers for fast approval.
- The draft kept strict requirements that force new large centres to secure long‑term power purchase agreements of at least six years, pair capacity with batteries, meet hourly renewable coverage targets that phase in to 80%, and accept operator‑managed disconnection without compensation.
- Industry groups and major tech firms rejected the revised text and say they will pursue legal challenges while warning that billions in planned investment have been delayed or redirected.
- The main technical dispute is over scale and impact: the government’s worst‑case simulation models a 10,000 MW build‑out that would double gas use and triple variable generation costs, while an industry‑commissioned Wood Mackenzie study models a 3,000 MW scenario with only modest consumer price effects.
- Permitting and planning uncertainty deepens tensions because grid operators have issued connection permits for more than 12,000 MW even though realistic operational estimates for 2030 range between about 2,500 and 4,000 MW, complicating network upgrades and policy choices.