Spain Faces Electric Network Saturation Amid Speculative Demand and Investment Challenges
Spain's electric grid saturation is raising concerns over speculative power demand, high investments, and the economic impact on consumers amid efforts to electrify and decarbonize the economy.
- • Spain's electric network is 83.4% saturated, per major energy firms.
- • Approximately 10-15% of power connection requests are speculative, inflating demand.
- • Government granted 43 GW in network capacity over two years, matching installed capacity.
- • A €13.5 billion investment plan from 2025 to 2030 will increase costs for consumers.
Key details
Spain’s electric network is currently experiencing significant saturation, raising concerns about its ability to support the country's economic electrification and decarbonization efforts. Over the past year, complaints about network capacity constraints have intensified, especially after a blackout in April highlighted the urgency of this issue.
According to major energy companies like Iberdrola and Endesa, 83.4% of the electric grid is saturated. However, this figure does not factor in that approximately 10-15% of power connection requests are speculative — permits obtained not for immediate use but for later resale, artificially inflating the apparent demand. In 2024 alone, 67 GW of power was requested, but many applications were denied. Despite this, the government granted a capacity of 43 GW over two years, which matches the current installed capacity, underscoring a discrepancy between reported and actual demand.
Data centers are expected to play a significant role, with investments projected to reach €58 billion by 2030, primarily driven by major technology firms. However, these developments contribute minimally to direct employment, raising questions about their broader economic benefit.
In response to these pressures, the government has announced a €13.5 billion investment plan for the electric network between 2025 and 2030. However, the financial burden of this expansion is expected to be passed on to consumers through higher electricity bills, sparking concerns about the affordability and economic impact. There are also fears that some utility companies might be prioritizing profit by fostering a potential speculative bubble in network access, which could hamper genuine electrification progress.
The Basque government has cautioned that electricity demand could increase by up to 30% in the coming years, emphasizing the urgency of addressing these challenges to ensure the network’s reliability and support Spain’s transition towards a more sustainable economy.
This article was synthesized and translated from native language sources to provide English-speaking readers with local perspectives.