Spain to regulate data centers with new renewable energy mandates

The Spanish government plans to approve a new royal decree this October to regulate data centers, focusing on sustainability, resilience, and digital sovereignty. A central requirement of the regulation is that data centers must cover at least 80% of their hourly electricity consumption with new renewable energy generation. This mandate specifically requires new generation to be matched hour-by-hour with actual consumption, rather than relying on existing renewable energy guarantees.

The regulation is part of the 'IA360' state strategy, which aims to position Spain among the top five countries for responsible and ethical artificial intelligence development by 2027. The government intends to manage the deployment of data infrastructure to prevent excessive demand from compromising the electrical grid's capacity for the rest of the economy. Current requests for grid access significantly exceed the projected 2.5 gigawatts of effective energy demand expected by 2030.

While the government views these measures as essential for environmental sustainability and technological autonomy, the sector's employers' association has expressed opposition to the new rules. The decree will also influence the design of a planned European AI gigafactory in Spain, ensuring it operates under this new regulatory framework.