Limited capacity to connect new projects to the domestic electricity grid is costing Spain.
As demand for electricity grows, the grid’s ability to take on more connections – and so provide more electricity – is shrinking.
Companies have warned the situation is a major obstacle to Spain’s economic growth in the country.
Since September, the Spanish electricity regulator, the National Commission for Markets and Competition (CNMC), has required distributors to publish maps showing the capacity for new connections to the country’s electricity grid.
Connection points are where users and producers of energy hook up to the grid to supply and use electricity.
The maps made it clear to the public just how little room the electric grid currently has to take on more connections.
According to the Association of Electric Power Companies (Aelec), in September, capacity was 83.4 per cent filled, meaning approximately eight in 10 connection points had reached saturation.
The group praised the regulation mandating the publication of these maps as a move toward greater transparency. It also called for further regulatory changes that would incentivise investment in the electricity infrastructure to increase the country’s capacity to distribute electricity.
In the two months since then, capacity has only shrunk, with connection points overall reaching 87 per cent of their capacity this month.
“Requests for access to the electricity grid have multiplied,” explained electricity provider Endensa on its website.
It said that in 2024 and the first half of 2025 it received requests for 38GW of new connections, a figure that doubles the current peak demand for electricity on its entire network.
With the system at almost total capacity, about half of requests for connection were denied, it said. In economic terms, this translated to €60 billion-worth of projects that did not materialise, according to Aelec. In other words, a €60 billion economic loss.
Demand has increased due to increases in renewable energy, the electrification of industry and the growth of electric cars and data centres.
According to Endensa, another problem is that much of the capacity for new connections is already reserved but for projects that will most likely never be completed and connected to the grid.
“The solution is to require economic guarantees and strict deadlines, in addition to eliminating duplications in applications,” the company said of making current capacity more accessible.
More important, though, according to the company, is increasing overall capacity for new connections through investment and new infrastructure build out.
The Spanish Government has responded to the situation but electricity companies complain they still will not get a good enough profit margin for their investments.
The Ministry for the Ecological Transition has submitted a draft to the government of a law that would grant an exceptional increase in the amount electricity distributors can invest, increasing the limit by 62 per cent. That would allow companies to use an estimated additional €11.3 billion to invest in projects to meet rising demand for electricity.
Electricity companies remain dissatisfied, though, with the limit on return on investments at 6.2 per cent. According to them, this is significantly below the limits placed on other regulated industries.
