The Spanish government is advancing a regulatory framework for sustainable data centres. A draft Real Decreto on sustainability and sovereignty requirements is under consultation; meanwhile, industry and energy associations are warning of bottlenecks in grid expansion. The political debate is therefore intensifying around infrastructure considered strategic for artificial intelligence, the digitalisation of public administration and the testing of autonomous mobility.
According to the industry association SpainDC planned investment in Spain is expected to total around €19.6 billion by 2030, while installed IT capacity could reach about 1,705 megawatts by then. These figures would drive construction, equipment and operations for years. SpainDC also notes that equipment costs are included in the totals and that different methodologies are used to allocate costs. Figures in other market studies vary considerably in some cases.
The regulatory framework is evolving. The Ministerio para la Transición Ecológica y el Reto Demográfico (MITECO) is developing efficiency and environmental standards, alongside requirements for digital sovereignty. Renewable energy, water use and waste heat recovery are among the key issues. The associations Asociación de Empresas de Energías Renovables (APPA) and Asociación Empresarial Eólica (AEE) have called for adjustments to avoid duplicate regulation and additional costs. The electricity industry association aelēc points to the need to accelerate grid upgrades so that new sites can be connected on time.
Demand is also a driving factor. An analysis by McKinsey (“Reinventing autonomous driving in the age of generative AI”) expects generative models, large-scale simulations and end-to-end architectures to significantly increase the computing needed to develop and validate autonomous driving functions. This suggests that, alongside energy and land costs, site selection will increasingly depend on latency, international connectivity and reliable permitting processes.
For Spain, this gives rise to three immediate policy priorities. First, electricity and fibre-optic infrastructure must be expanded quickly to support proposed developments. Second, clear, practical sustainability criteria are needed to provide investment certainty and conserve resources. Third, managing water and waste heat flows requires early coordination between data centre operators, network operators and local authorities. Spain has location advantages in its geography, international network connections and high renewable energy potential – whether these translate into economic value will depend on grids, standards and permits.
Editor: Mira Cadena (Article created with AI assistance).