On June 23rd, 2020 the Spanish government approved the RDL 23/2020, which included new regulations for the energy sector in order to reactivate the economy, in the aftermath of the national lockdowns.
This regulation aims to accelerate the decarbonization process of the Spanish electric sector in order to dynamize the energy industry, support investment in renewable energies and drive theeconomic recovery after covid-19.
One of the key points of this law is to modify the guidelines to reach the Commercial Operation Date (COD) with photovoltaic facilities. The new milestones are distributed along a 5-year period to reach COD after the connection permit is issued, which will prevent precarious projects created just to speculate (without a real project behind it).
In addition, the ministry offers new information about the expected energy auctions. They will likely be based on energy produced instead of power built and differentiated by technology. The law also creates a legal framework for I+D facilities.
Other subjects regulated by the law are:
- Legal framework for car charging stations.
- Electric Storage and hybridization.
- Electric energy communities.
- Electric efficiency promotion.
Lastly, the law establishes a deferment period for the electric system access request until new regulation regarding them is published (planned for September 2020).