Abbreviated form of legal source
- Law 24/2013
- RD 1183/2020
- Circular 1/2021 CNMC
- RD 1955/2000
- RDL 15/2018
- RDL 23/2020
- RD 413/2014
Description of the process
Renewable Energy installations shall apply for an access and a connection permit in order to connect the plant to a specific point in the distribution or transmission network and to have the permission to use the network (art. 33.1 Law 24/2013 and article 2 Royal Decree 1183/2020). These permits constitute the first step in the procedures to produce electricity.
Between December 2020 and January 2021, Spain introduced relevant changes in this process step through RD 1183/2020 and Circular 1/2021 CNMC.
Project developers must submit a single application for access and connection permits, i.e., they will be processed jointly in the same procedure. The TSO or DSO will be the only contact point with the applicant. After assessing the availability of sufficient capacity and that the technical conditions are met, the TSO or DSO will grant the permits. Temporary priority is established as the general criterion to process all requests.
RDL 23/2020 introduced expiration deadlines for access and connection permits. For instance, permits granted after RDL 23/2020 will expire in five years (provided that developers fulfil the administrative milestones defined in article 1, RDL 23/2020). Regarding rooftop PV, self-consumption units without surplus of any installed capacity do not require an access and connection contract with the DSO, provided that there is already a contract for electricity supply to the consumer. Self-consumption units with surplus (of any modality) up to 15 kW and in urban land are also exempted from access and connection permits (art. 7 Royal Decree 244/2019; art. 17 Royal Decree 1183/2020).
Besides, other self-consumption units with surplus shall apply for the access and connection permits to the DSO. Units with an installed power between 15 kW and lower than 100 kW, article 4 of RD 1699/2011 regulates a simplified procedure. Units larger than 100 kW shall follow the procedure set in RD 1955/2000.
Competent authority
- TSO
- DSOs
- MITECO
- CNMC