General rules
All consumers have the right to access and be connected to the electric energy transmission and distribution networks in the national territory(Art 7, Law 24/2013). In addition, consumers have the right to contract the supply of electricity at voluntary prices for small consumers or the last energy supply at voluntary prices for small consumers or last resort tariffs (Art. 17).
Regarding prosumers, Royal Decree 244/2019 regulates the access and connection to the grid for installations that need to discharge surplus electricity through it. Prosumers have the right to connect to the grid under the technical conditions defined by the Regulations, the Transmission System Operator (TSO), and the DSOs. They must include in the installation works all measures (metering, power factor correction devices, …) required to ensure that their operation will not interfere with the normal operation of the system.
The rights and obligations of the energy producers are, among others:
a) The use in their production units of the primary energy sources they consider most appropriate, respecting in all cases the yields, technical characteristics, and environmental protection rules contained in the operating permit;
b) Dispatching their energy through the system operator under the terms established by regulations;
c) Access to the transmission and distribution grids, under the terms established by regulations.
Equally, obligations are also set in the legislation, such as obtaining adequate authorisations, to develop the activity and, in particular, adopting the required safety, availability and maintenance needs. Lastly, they must comply with all operating procedures stated by TSO, market operator, and Administration bodies (national, regional, and local).
Last but not least, an Active Demand Response Service (ADRS) is in place as a regulated service that allows industrial and electro-intensive consumers to adjust their energy consumption flexibly in response to the needs of the electricity system coordinated by the TSO. This service, created to balance energy generation and demand, offers companies the opportunity to reduce their energy costs and obtain compensation for reducing their consumption at critical times. The specific conditions are established in P.O.7.5. (DCOOR/DE/003/23) from the Spanish NRA. The procurement of the active demand response product (MW) will be carried out through an auction mechanism. Each demand-side facility that is part of this service, previously fulfilling all accreditation needs, must individually accredit a supply capacity greater than or equal to 1 MW in the periods in which the service is provided
Rights and obligations of customers and prosumers
All consumers have the ”right to access and be connected to the electric energy transmission and distribution and distribution networks, in the national territory, under the terms established in Art 7. Law 24/2013”. In addition, consumers have the right to “contract the supply of electricity at the voluntary prices for small consumers or last energy supply at the voluntary prices for the small consumer or last resort tariffs” (Art. 17).
Regarding prosumers (or producer-consumer), Royal Decree 244/2019 regulates the access and connection for installations that need to discharge surplus electricity through it. As above, they do have the right to connect to the grid c/w the technical conditions set by regulations, the TSO and DSO and they must include in the installation of all measures (metering, power factor correction devices, …) in order to ensure that its operation will not interfere with the normal operation of the system.
Rights and obligations of plant operators
Regulated by Art. 26, Law 24/2013, the rights and obligations of the energy producers are, among others:
- Use the primary energy sources they consider most appropriate in their production units, respecting in all cases the yields, technical characteristics, and environmental protection conditions contained in the operating permit.
- Dispatch their energy through the system operator under the terms established by regulations.
- Access to the transmission and distribution grids, under the terms established by regulations.
- (…)
The obligations, among others, are:
- Development of all those activities necessary to produce electric energy in the terms foreseen in its authorization and, in particular, with respect to safety
availability and maintenance of the installed power.
- Adopt and apply the safety standards, technical regulations and homologation or certification of installations and certification of facilities and instruments established by the competent Administration.
- Comply with all operating procedures stated by TSO, market operator and Administration bodies (national, regional and local).
- (…)
15)Are there any specific rules or obligations concerning RES plant operators?
Operating and management of the grid is governed by the transmission system operator (TSO) and the regional distribution system operators (DSOs). The obligation related to RES plant operators is to comply with the requirements to get access and connection permit as previously described (Royal Decree 23/2020, Title I) as well as, comply with the procedures of administrative register as an electricity producer and the requirement as per Royal Decree 43/2014, Title II, Art 7. as several specifics are integrated over the general process tailored to RES facilities.
Task of the DSO/TSO
Spanish regulations distinguish between primary and secondary electricity grids (Law 24/2013, Art 34): primary and secondary grids. As stated, the primary grid is composed of “power lines, parks, converters and other electrical elements with nominal voltages of at least 380 kV; International interconnection facilities; Interconnections with non-peninsular territories. The secondary electricity grids include power lines, parks, transformers and other electrical elements with nominal voltages of at least 220 kV that are not considered primary networks; Other facilities with nominal voltages under 220 kV that fulfil transport functions; Grids with nominal voltages of at least 66 kV in non-peninsular territories; Island interconnections not considered primary networks”.
The TSO (Red Eléctrica) main responsibility is to guarantee at all times the security and continuity of the electricity supply and to manage the transmission of energy in the high voltage infrastructure (primary grid) – operating, expanding, managing and maintaining. Law 24/2013 Art. 36 contains the rights and obligations of the operator, which include, among others:
- Developing, expanding, operating and maintaining in line with the approved plans.
- Assemble investment plans (annual and pluriannual) and submit them to the competent Ministry for approval.
- Comply at all times with the instructions of the system operator and/or any request.
- Ensure non-discrimination between users (or categories of users) to the transport network, i.e., provide all the information they need to connect efficiently to the network.
- Granting permission for connection to the transport network.
- (…)
It is responsible for the transmission from the generating power stations to the consumption areas. Its operational functions are carried out via control centres to guarantee the correct functioning of the electricity supply process at all times, both in the peninsular and non-peninsular electricity systems.
Similarly, DSOs are authorised companies or co-operatives of consumers and users that distribute electricity to end consumers (Art 6e. Law 23/2013), and construct, maintain and operate distribution facilities. Distribution facilities comprise lines, parks, transformers and other facilities with nominal voltage under 220 kV, i.e., secondary grid. Law 23/2013 Art. 36, contain the rights and obligations of the operator, which include, among others:
- Construction, operation, maintenance and, if necessary, development of its distribution and, if necessary, the development of its distribution network, as well as, if applicable, its interconnections with other networks.
- Create and execute maintenance plans for its distribution network facilities.
- Analyse the requests for connection to the distribution networks in accordance with the criteria established by regulation.
- Assemble investment plans (annual and pluriannual) and submit them to the competent Ministry for approval, Autonomous communities or Autonomous cities.
- (…)
Role of the National Regulatory Agency (NRA)
The national regulatory authority, the CNMC, is the National Regulatory body in Spain for several sectors, including electricity but it is not involved in grid management and operation but, it is the responsible body in charge of approving the methodology and conditions for access and connection to the grid (see Art 11, Royal Decree-Law 1/2019). Thus, it was published in the Circular 1/2021, of January 20, 2001, which establishes the methodology and conditions for access and connection to the transmission and distribution networks for the distribution of electric energy from production facilities.
Moreover, CNMC oversees daily and intraday market rules as well as operating procedures of system operation, including balancing markets and non-frequency markets. It also sets out the methodology for calculating network access tariffs according to transmission and distribution costs and supervises access to cross-border interconnections.
Priority for RES and curtailment
According to article 26.2 of Law 24/2013, electricity from RE installations and, after them, from high-efficiency cogeneration installations, shall have priority of dispatch under equal economic conditions in the market.
The right to access and use the grid may be temporarily restricted only for lack of the necessary capacity, the justification for which shall be based exclusively on criteria of security, regularity or quality of supply (articles 52, 56, and 65 RD 1955/2000).
Grid use/management rules on islands
Grid use and management on islands are the responsibility of REE (national TSO) and DSOs.
Royal Decree 738/2015, of July 31, 2015, is the rule that regulates the particularities of the activity of electricity production and the dispatch procedure in the electricity systems of the non-peninsular territories, as well as the procedure for obtaining the favourable resolution of compatibility. For other activities related to the supply of electricity, such as transmission, distribution or commercialisation, the same rules apply as in the peninsular system.
Source: MITECO - Territorios No Peninsulares (TNP) (energia.gob.es)