The Spanish government has updated its strategy to mandate that data centers obtain a significant portion of their energy from renewable resources. – Getty Images. According to Bloomberg, the original suggestion stated that facilities with a capacity of 033MW or more would have to adhere to the requirement.
The power capacity has been increased to over 10MW, and the updated guidelines will increase the threshold for the rules’ applicability, prolong the time for developers to prove renewable energy usage and commitments, and introduce a transitional period for achieving clean-energy targets. Additionally, the new rules modify the initial requirement that every new megawatt of energy must be balanced by a corresponding megawatt of renewable energy installed within 18 months prior to the facility’s commencement.
The timeframe has now been extended to 36 months before the start of operation. Solar power limitations have been removed. Nevertheless, data centers must still source at least 80% of their energy from renewable sources during each hour of operation, according to the updated guidelines.
The proposed plan offers data center operators a grace period of five years to meet the target under various circumstances. Spain is emerging as a crucial hub for data centers in the European market due to its abundant land and substantial solar power generation possibilities. At present, the volume of data center projects requesting grid connections within the nation exceeds 10GW.
Over the past few months, there has been an increase in various new proposals. In this context, Omani renewable energy company O-Green revealed intentions for a data center initiative in Zaragoza, Spain earlier in the month. Further details can be found under the Government & Military category.
23 Sep 2026.
