EL7.AI
StocksMedium•27 October 2026•
4 min read

Spain Raises Data Center Rules Threshold to 10 Megawatts in Revised Proposal

Key Facts

1The revised proposal raised the threshold for applying general data center requirements to 10 megawatts, from 1 megawatt in the first draft.
2The proposal kept the requirement to cover 80% of renewable energy supply each hour and added a transition period of up to 5 years.
3The revised version cut the minimum term for renewable energy purchase agreements to 6 years from 10 years.
4The draft allows renewable energy facilities to predate a data center’s start of operation by up to 36 months, rather than 18 months.
5Solaria announced an agreement to develop a data center complex with capacity of up to 500 megawatts, alongside 350 megawatts of solar power, in Uruguay.

The Spanish government has rewritten its proposal to regulate data centers, raising the capacity threshold for general requirements to 10 megawatts from 1 megawatt in the first draft. The changes come as interest grows in linking demand for digital infrastructure with electricity and renewable energy supplies. Reports of a rise in Solaria shares linked the move to the easing of rules, but the size and timing of the gain could not be independently verified. The change also remains a proposal sent to the Council of State, not an effective rule. Its potential impact on energy companies and data center projects therefore remains contingent on the decree’s approval process and final terms.

Raising the threshold means centers with capacity of 10 megawatts or more will fall within the scope of the general requirements under the revised version, after the first draft covered centers with capacity of 1 megawatt. The amendment reduces the number of facilities covered by the regulation compared with the initial wording, according to La Vanguardia. The government aims to regulate expansion without intensifying competition for water resources, the newspaper reported. It also said the goal includes avoiding additional costs for electricity consumers due to data centers’ high consumption. This puts the easing of the threshold against two stated aims: enabling the sector to expand while limiting pressure on resources and consumers.

The revised version allows greater flexibility in how renewable energy linked to a center is counted. It allows renewable generation facilities to have been established up to 36 months before a data center begins operating, compared with a maximum of 18 months in the first draft, according to Spanish public broadcaster RTVE. The proposal also cut the minimum term for long-term renewable energy purchase agreements to 6 years from 10 years in the initial wording. The changes thus ease the requirements on how recently generation facilities must have been established and on the length of contractual commitments. They do not, however, remove the draft’s renewable energy requirements.

The initial proposal, submitted by the Ministry for the Ecological Transition for public consultation on August 27, 2026, sought to ensure that 80% of a center’s consumption was covered by new renewable energy in every hour of operation. Reuters reported that the latest version kept the requirement to cover at least 80% of energy supply with renewable energy each hour and added an alternative transition path that could extend to 5 years to reach the threshold, subject to conditions. The grace period gives projects time to reach the required share, with supply potentially reduced under the transition path, according to the report. The Ministry for the Ecological Transition opened the public consultation on August 27 and later extended the deadline for comments to September 10, 2026. The combination of a coverage share and a transition period reflects an attempt to reconcile clean energy requirements with implementation capacity.

Solaria is at the center of the broader debate over energy and data centers after disclosing to Spain’s securities market regulator an agreement with the government of Uruguay to develop a data center technology complex with capacity of up to 500 megawatts, alongside 350 megawatts of solar generation. The project gives the company a presence in a sector that combines demand for data centers with the provision of the energy they need, but it does not establish that the change to Spanish rules will improve Solaria’s grid access or increase its profits. The announced deal in Uruguay remains separate from Spain’s draft decree and is not, in itself, evidence of a direct impact from the changes on the company’s business. Solaria also announced it will hold a capital markets day in London on November 19, 2026, for analysts and institutional investors. The event follows the company’s announcement of the Uruguay project, while the Spanish proposal remains in the procedural stage before adoption.