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Spain proposes 10MW threshold for data-center renewables mandate

The revised proposal keeps the 80% hourly clean-power test and adds a transition period of up to five years.

At a glance

  1. The revision remains a proposal, not adopted rules.
  2. For an allocator underwriting a Spanish campus, the change moves the compliance cost onto larger projects.
  3. The 80% test itself is unchanged: renewable energy must cover at least 80% of a data center's supply for every hour of operation.

Spain's revised data-center renewables mandate would apply to facilities of more than 10MW, up from 1MW in the initial draft, according to Data Center Dynamics, which said Bloomberg first reported the revision.

The revision remains a proposal, not adopted rules. It stretches the window for matching each new megawatt of load with new renewables to 36 months before operations, from 18. It also leaves no limit on solar power, the report said, and extends the time developers get to demonstrate renewable energy use and commitments.

For an allocator underwriting a Spanish campus, the change moves the compliance cost onto larger projects. A facility below the new threshold sits outside the matching requirement; one above it gets 36 months, not 18, to line up the new-build renewables behind its load.

The 80% test itself is unchanged: renewable energy must cover at least 80% of a data center's supply for every hour of operation. Operators would get a transition period of up to five years to reach that threshold under several conditions.

Spain's pitch is land and renewable generation potential. Data center projects seeking grid connections in Spain total more than 10GW, according to the report. Omani renewable energy firm O-Green announced earlier this month plans for a data center project in Zaragoza, Spain, the report said.

The conditions attached to the up-to-five-year transition would determine how much of the 80% hourly test a new campus can defer past commissioning. The reporting does not describe them.

Reported by the Data centers & fiber desk from Data Center Dynamics. Published . Corrections

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