Spanish Government Unveils 2030 Grid Plan with 6,706 km of New Transmission Lines

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On November 12, Sara Aagesen, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge of Spain, presented the 2030 electricity network planning proposal to the Standing Committee of the Spanish Congress. The plan is designed to accommodate 47 GW of new electricity demand, build 6,706 km of transmission lines, upgrade and increase the capacity of 8,164 km of existing lines, and construct 193 new substations to meet growing electricity demand in the industrial, hydrogen, data center, residential, and transport sectors.

The plan focuses on adjusting the grid's capacity to accommodate new electricity demand. According to data published by Spain's Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge, the current 2026 grid plan can accommodate approximately 2 GW of new demand on the transmission grid side, while the new plan expands this scale to 47 GW, an increase of about 23.5 times. The 47 GW figure is 71% higher than the initial proposal released during the public consultation phase, and was adjusted after the government analyzed 2,566 comments received, but it represents only about 20% of the total demand declared during the consultation phase.

New electricity demand broken down by connection sector: industrial electrification and decarbonization projects account for 14.9 GW, renewable hydrogen and derivative production for 12.4 GW, data centers for 9.3 GW, new residential and regional development for 6 GW, transport electrification for 2.5 GW, port electrification for 1.8 GW, and railway systems for 0.5 GW. Of this, 26 GW is planned to be connected directly to the transmission grid, with the remaining approximately 21 GW met through the distribution grid.

In addition to new lines, the grid construction plan includes the construction of 193 substation facilities and capacity upgrades of 8,164 km of existing transmission lines. The plan also designates 301 distribution grid support connection points, 270 renewable energy generation and storage connection points, 162 direct connection points for large users, and 59 connection points for railway and port electrification. Of the 270 renewable energy and storage connection points, 28 are for pumped-storage hydropower stations. Residential electricity demand is allocated 103 distribution grid support connection points, corresponding to 6 GW of new electricity capacity.

The 2030 grid plan published by the Spanish Government requires an investment of EUR 17.142 billion, an increase of nearly 150% compared with the 2026 plan. In addition, Royal Decree No. 640/2026, approved in July 2026, opens up an additional EUR 17.9 billion of investment space for the transmission and distribution grids, of which EUR 7.7 billion is for the transmission grid and EUR 10.2 billion for the distribution grid.