Spain wants data centres on 80% renewables every hour, or no grid connection

This article was published on August 26, 2026 The draft decree also requires EU establishment and European data residency, with grid access as the enforcement tool. The Spanish flag outside Madrid City Hall. Spain has drafted a decree that would require new data centres to source at least 80% of their electricity from renewables in every hour of operation, with loss of grid connection as the penalty for failing to comply. It is a markedly firmer position than the one Brussels has taken, having previously told Big Tech to align data centres with climate goals without much in the way of a mechanism, and it lands in a continent where Denmark has already paused grid connections outright. The hourly requirement is the technically demanding part. Annual matching, where an operator buys enough renewable energy over a year to offset consumption, is comparatively easy, whereas hourly matching means the power has to be there when the servers are drawing it. New capacity comes with an additional obligation. Every new megawatt requires matching renewable installations to be in place within 18 months before operation, achieved either through contracts or by building locally. That effectively ma