Regulatory developments in the field of energy - June and July 2025

1. Resolution of 8 June 2025 of the National Commission for Markets and Competition (CNMC), setting out detailed specifications for determining firm access capacity for demand to electricity distribution grid (Resolution of 8 June)

The CNMC approved, by means of its Resolution of 8 June, the detailed specifications for determining firm access capacity, implementing Article 18 and Annex III of Circular 1/2024, of 27 September, of the CNMC, which determines the methodology and conditions for access and connection to the transmission and distribution grids of electricity demand facilities, and sets out uniform technical criteria throughout the territory for assessing the capacity of access to distribution grids for demand or demand-side storage facilities.

It defines firm access capacity as the maximum active power that can be supplied with a guarantee of supply throughout the year, resulting from the capacity assessment. The access capacity study shall be specific to each request, maintaining its order of priority, and shall be nodal in nature (carácter nodal), considering all nodes with influence on the connection point and shared limitation.
The Resolution of 8 June details differentiated simultaneity coefficients according to the type of demand (residential, commercial, industrial, electric vehicle recharging, storage, among others), for the study scenarios and the determination of the maximum capacity at the connection point. The studies must consider the grid as a whole, taking into account the effect of the new demand on all elements of the grid at any voltage level.

Finally, the access capacity will be the minimum resulting from the criteria in section 3.6 of the Resolution of 8 June, verifying compliance throughout the analysed grid.

The content of the Resolution of 8 June can be accessed here.

2. Report on the proposed procedure for allocating the specific remuneration regime in calls for high-efficiency cogeneration installations (CNMC report)

On 30 May, the CNMC published its report on the proposed procedure for allocating the specific remuneration regime for high-efficiency cogeneration facilities. On 17 February, the Secretary of State for Energy of the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITERD) requested the CNMC to issue a report on (i) the Draft Royal Decree establishing the framework for calls for tenders for the granting of the specific remuneration regime to cogeneration facilities (Draft Royal Decree) and (ii) the Proposed Order regulating the procedure for allocating the specific remuneration scheme in calls for high-efficiency cogeneration facilities under Royal Decree XX/2025, of XX XXXX (Draft Order and, jointly, the Proposal). The following aspects of the CNMC report are noteworthy, among others:

• The CNMC warns that, when using a marginalist system (closed-bid auction with marginal price) in a market with information asymmetries, bids will tend towards the marginal cost of each plant, generating additional profits for inframarginal cogenerators. Although this may reflect efficiency, if it does not encourage investment or innovation, it becomes extraordinary income that distorts the market and reduces its overall efficiency. It therefore recommends considering a pay-as-bid (uniform price) system instead of a marginalist system.
•  It points out that the power to be auctioned (1,200 MW) is less than the cumulative power of cogeneration plants that have already exceeded their useful life in recent years. Although this figure is set in the PNIEC (National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan (PNIEC 2023-2030) (Plan Nacional Integrado de Energía y Clima, PNIEC 2023-2030), it only covers part of the power that will soon exceed its useful life. Furthermore, with regard to the "very high efficiency" requirement to accelerate the ecological transition, the CNMC recommends that energy efficiency thresholds be kept in line with European regulations, avoiding imposing requirements that are 50% higher than the EU minimum.
• The CNMC warns that failure to comply with the reinforced primary energy saving requirement or the minimum 30% self-consumption requirement for cogeneration plants in subgroup a.1.1 - set out in Article 2.1 of Royal Decree 413/2014 of 6 June which regulates the production of electricity from renewable energy sources, cogeneration and waste (Real Decreto 413/2014, de 6 de junio, por el que se regula la actividad de producción de energía eléctrica a partir de fuentes de energía renovables, cogeneración y residuos) - is in addition to the obligation to use natural gas with at least 10% green hydrogen. This non-compliance would lead to cancellation from the specific remuneration scheme register and possible penalties. Therefore, the CNMC (i) stresses the need to define "green hydrogen" precisely, (ii) recommends deleting several paragraphs of Article 10 of the Draft Order, and (iii) considers that any essential condition for receiving the specific remuneration scheme must be laid down in a regulation of no lower rank than a ministerial order.

The CNMC Report includes two final recommendations: (i) to incorporate into the Proposal the obligation to adhere to the accreditation scheme for the inspection of energy efficiency conditions in cogeneration plants published by the National Accreditation Body for all entities certifying the energy efficiency of the awarded facilities; and (ii) to justify in the Regulatory Impact Analysis Report (MAIN) the guarantee required in the auction (€20/kW), as it is one third of that required in Royal Decree 960/2020 of 3 November which regulates the Economic Regime for Renewable Energy for electricity production facilities (REER) (€60/kW) (Real Decreto 960/2020, de 3 de noviembre, por el que se regula el régimen económico de energías renovables para instalaciones de producción de energía eléctrica), explaining the reason for this asymmetry.

The content of the CNMC Report can be accessed here.

3. Resolution of 13 June 2025, of the CNMC, setting out the procedure for the management of requests and contracting for the connection of other gas production plants to the natural gas transport or distribution grids

The CNMC has published the Resolution of 13 June 2025, which regulates the procedure for managing requests and contracting the connection of other gas production plants to natural gas transmission or distribution grids (CNMC Resolution of 13 June 2025), in force since 1 July 2025.

This CNMC Resolution of 13 June 2025 is part of Order TED/463/2024 of 24 April, establishing energy policy guidelines for the CNMC relating to the natural gas sector (Order TED/463/2024), which determines, for reasons of administrative simplicity, that the procedure for connection and access for biomethane producers must be aligned with that applied to the injection of other renewable gases, such as hydrogen. In addition, it provides for the possibility of unifying both procedures in a single document, which is precisely what this CNMC Resolution of 13 June 2025 achieves.

The CNMC Resolution of 13 June 2025, in any case, sets out a different processing regime for the two (2) types of requests for connection to the natural gas grid:

• For production plants of other gases that do not need to be mixed with natural gas, the CNMC Resolution of 13 June 2025 provides for the possibility for interested parties to make prior requests for information from the owners of natural gas grids. These consultations make it possible to find out about the different connection options before formally submitting the connection request, thus facilitating planning and decision-making by developers.
• On the other hand, for production plants of other gases that do need to be mixed with natural gas, the management of connection requests is organised through an annual competitive procedure, which is carried out in three successive phases:
  • First phase: Submission of information relating to connection requests to the Technical System Manager.
  • Second phase: Publication of the conditional connection capacity, accompanied by a responsible declaration (in accordance with the annex to the CNMC Resolution of 13 June 2025).
  • Third phase: Notification by the grid operators to applicants of the acceptance or rejection of their connection request.

In addition, three procedural measures are envisaged: (i) a list of eight (8) criteria for ranking connection requests from production plants for other gases that are mixed with natural gas; (ii) the obligation of the grid owner to notify the applicant of the acceptance or rejection of the request within a maximum period of 45 days; and (iii) the obligation of the applicant, upon receiving the response, to within 60 working days (i) accept the budget, (ii) sign the connection contract, and (iii) pay 10% of the budget (max. €100,000), with the application being considered withdrawn if no response is received.

The content of the CNMC Resolution of 13 June 2025 can be accessed here.

4. Royal Decree 535/2025, of 24 June, setting forth the regulatory bases for the direct granting of subsidies to Spanish projects for their participation in the European hydrogen bank's "auction as a service" scheme, selected by the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA), and approving the first call for proposals under the recovery, transformation and resilience plan, financed by the European Union - Next Generation EU (Royal Decree 535/2025)

Royal Decree 535/2025 regulates the framework for the direct granting of subsidies to Spanish renewable hydrogen projects which, having been selected by CINEA within the European Hydrogen Bank project for their projects to be financed by the Innovation Fund, have not been able to be financed due to the insufficient budget of said fund, so that they can receive support from the national budget allocated for each auction -financed with European and national funds, within the framework of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan and the PNIEC 2021-2030.

• The subsidy will consist of a payment for each kilogram of renewable hydrogen produced, verified and certified. These entities will not become beneficiaries until the granting body has issued an express decision on the procedure included in this Royal Decree 535/2025.
•  These subsidies are set out for projects previously selected by CINEA, without the need for national competitive bidding. The maximum national budget is set in each call for proposals, with a maximum aid period of ten (10) years from the start of operation of the facility.

Royal Decree 535/2025 stipulates that this grant program is not compatible with other investment or operating public aid for the same action, with the exception of:

• Reductions in electricity levies for large energy consumers granted in accordance with section 4.11 of the Guidelines on State aid for climate, environmental protection and energy 2022. In the event of cumulation, the total amount of aid may not lead to overcompensation or exceed the maximum aid allowed under the relevant State aid schemes.
•  Grant programs or aid for energy infrastructure connected to the project, where the infrastructure is not dedicated to the project ("non-dedicated infrastructure").

The content of Royal Decree 535/2025 can be accessed here.

5. Royal Decree-Law 7/2025, of 24 June, approving urgent measures to strengthen the electricity system (RD-L 7/2025)

RD-L 7/2025 approved a set of urgent measures to strengthen the resilience, control, storage, electrification and security of the electricity system in Spain, in response to the electricity crisis of 28 April 2025 (the "Blackout").

Congress voted to repeal it on 22 July, and it was published in the Official State Gazette (BOE) on 23 July. The publication of the agreement in the BOE can be accessed here.

In this context, RD-L 7/2025 temporarily introduced new developments in both the systems and processing areas, with the aim of strengthening security, transparency and agility in the energy sector.
Among other measures, RD-L 7/2025 clarified the fifth milestone of Royal Decree-Law 23/2020 of 23 June, which approved measures in the field of energy and other areas for economic recovery (Real Decreto-ley 23/2020, de 23 de junio, por el que se aprueban medidas en materia de energía y en otros ámbitos para la reactivación económica), such as the authorisation of provisional exploitation for testing, regulating its processing and exceptionally extending its deadline to adapt implementation schedules.

Finally, it should be clarified that RD-L 7/2025 has been in full force and effect from 24 June until its repeal on 22 July, with all acts carried out under its provisions remaining fully effective even after the repeal of RD-L 7/2025.

The content of the now repealed RD-L 7/2025 can be accessed here.