NATIONAL STRATEGY
In September 2024 the Spanish Government approved the Royal Decree regulating the production of electricity from renewable sources located at sea RD 962/2024, the regulatory framework of reference to develop this type of facilities in a participatory and flexible way, so as to maximize their positive externalities, such as the generation of employment and industry, while minimizing environmental impacts.
This new regulation establishes that offshore renewable energy installations beyond a certain power capacity - including ocean energy - will only be built through a competitive bidding mechanism in the High Potential Areas (ZAPER), identified for this purpose in the Maritime Spatial Planning (POEM in its acronym in Spanish). The competitive concurrence procedure simultaneously would grant - within one administrative act - the Economic Regime of Renewable Energy, the reservation of access capacity in a specific node of the transport network and priority in the granting of the concession for the occupation of the Maritime Terrestrial Public Domain.
The new framework facilitates the processing and establishes a special regulation for those installations under the consideration of ‘innovative offshore renewable installations’, by exempting them from participating in the competitive concurrence procedures as long as the installed power does not exceed 20 MW - on ocean energy - or those located in State Ports of General Interest. The innovative nature of the installations will be accredited by means of reports from the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities and the Institute for Energy Diversification and Saving (IDAE), M.P., in charge of determining that the activity is considered to be as research and development or technological innovation. Exempt from this report are those installations requesting authorization for a term of less than five years or, in the case of offshore wind, which only have one wind turbine.
As a general framework, the "Roadmap for the Development of Offshore Wind and Marine Energies" remains in force, outlining Spain's objectives for the development of offshore wind and marine energies. The roadmap sets targets for installed offshore wind power capacity of 1 to 3 GW by 2030 and aims to position Spain as a European hub for technological development and environmental innovation in the marine energy sector.
The National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan (PNIEC) 2021-2030 sets specific installed capacity targets for various renewable energy sources in Spain, although it does not set a specific figure for wave or marine energy because these technologies are still in an emerging phase and require further development. Reference is made, however, to marine renewables in terms of their long-term potential.
In 2023, Spain approved the Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) framework through the Royal Decree 150/2023, establishing the Spatial Planning Plans for Maritime Areas (POEM) across five marine demarcations: North Atlantic, South Atlantic, Strait and Alboran, Levantine-Balearic, and Canary Islands. These plans aim to harmonize human activities in marine areas, such as fishing, maritime transport, environmental conservation, and the development of marine renewable energies.
Aligned with the EU Directive 2014/89, Spain’s MSP framework ensures sustainable and balanced coexistence of marine uses, providing a regulatory and planning foundation for innovative projects like MAR+ and other renewable energy initiatives. The Ministry for the Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge oversees this implementation, promoting the integration of marine renewable energy projects within the sustainable management of maritime space.
MARKET INCENTIVES
There are no specific market incentives for ocean energy in Spain, but for renewable energy installations in general.
Royal Decree 413/2014 established that the support for new renewable facilities is granted through competitive public tender processes. Through these auction processes, bidders propose the initial value for the investment that they will be willing to accept, and the MW auctioned are allocated to the most competitive offers (the lower ones).
Royal Decree 960/2020, of November 3, which regulates the economic regime of renewable energies for electricity production facilities and Order TED / 1161/2020, of December 4, which regulates the first auction mechanism for the granting of the economic regime of renewable energies and establishes the indicative calendar for the period 2020-2025, will allow to start the tender calendar for the next five years.
The above mentioned Order TED/1161/2020 stablishes a tender of 20 MW every two years focused on “Other Technologies”, where ocean energy is included, reaching 60 MW for 2025
Additionally, tax incentives are being implemented in some regions as deductions for investment in R&D, which benefit companies developing research projects and technological prototypes related to marine energies.
PUBLIC FUNDING PROGRAMMES
The Call for the RENMARINAS DEMOS Programme in Spain is an initiative of the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITERD), managed through the Institute for Diversification and Energy Saving (IDAE), which aims to grant investment aid in pilot projects and testing platforms and port infrastructure for marine renewables, within the framework of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan. Following the closure of the evaluation of the proposals submitted, the Call was resolved in October 2023, by granting aid to 21 actions in new investments in testing and demonstration platforms for marine renewable technologies in Spain: offshore wind energy, wave energy, floating photovoltaic or hybrids of these renewable technologies. It has allocated grants amounting to €147 million, which will mobilise investments of around €384 million. Of these, 4 projects in the field of wave energy, with a cumulative power of 1.7 MW and a joint support of €4.5 million; and one project of a hybrid prototype of wind and wave energy, with 5 MW of total power and aid of €7.5 million. These projects are expected to be completed by 2026.
In September 2024, MITERD launched the public consultation on the regulatory bases for aid for the physical adaptation of national port infrastructure, suitable for facilitating the assembly, manufacturing and maintenance of offshore renewable energy projects, not only for national projects, but also as a complementary part of the supply chain for international markets. This initiative aims to adapt Spanish ports for the deployment of offshore wind and marine energy in Spain and marks a significant step towards the consolidation of Spain as one of the leading countries in renewable energy.
The Basque Energy Agency (EVE) launched a new call of its “Demonstration and validation of emerging marine renewable energy technologies” programme in 2024. As previous calls, the programme has a total budget of 2.5 M€ for 3-year maximum duration projects.
MARINE SPATIAL PLANNING POLICY
There is no specific Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) policy.
Pre-selected areas for ocean energy development have not been defined. Site selection is carried out on a case-by-case analysis. In the Basque country, in the case of Biscay Marine Energy Platform (BIMEP), a MSP approach was used for selecting the site.
AUTHORITIES INVOLVED
The authorities involved in the consenting process are:
CONSENTING PROCESS
The total time needed to obtain approval is approximately two years but this timeframe varies between projects.
For instance, consenting of BIMEP started in July 2008 and ended in 2012 with the concession of marine-terrestrial public domain and the authorization for project execution. In contrast, the consenting of the Mutriku wave power plant took less than two years as it is located onshore and consequently was subject to the consenting process applicable for an ‘ordinary’ renewable energy plant. The reason for such time variability to obtain the final consent is attributed to whether an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is required or not.
The new EIA law in Spain since 2013 aims to reduce the time scale needed for obtaining the Environmental Authorization, establishing a time period of no more than 4 months, or 6 months if there are justified reasons, thus reducing significantly the time needed for this consenting process which was about 3 to 24 months according to the previous law from 2008.
The Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Commerce, through the Energy Policy and Mines Directorate-General, is the decision-making body and it is responsible for granting the administrative authorization. However, in practice, there are more bodies involved in the process and developers need to deal with them.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT
An EIA is assessed on a case-by-case basis.
According to Law 21/2013, of 9 December, all projects devoted to the production of energy on the marine environment are subject to be evaluated through a simplified environmental impact assessment process. The entity responsible for the decision on whether an EIA is required or not is the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment.
There are not too many experiences related with EIA baseline and post-monitoring steps. The most interesting case can be BIMEP where an environmental monitoring plan was carried out. For example, this included monitoring activities during the installation of the electrical cables.
LEGISLATION AND REGULATION
In Spain, no dedicated consenting process exists ocean energy technologies.
The consenting process is based on three main legal instruments that are briefly outlined here.
Legislation and regulation that have been adapted to better suit ocean energy:
CONSULTATION
Consultation is usually required as part of the legal licensing process. It is usually made after the Environmental Impact Statement is delivered to the authorities for approval.
Advices are asked by the licensing authority to a number of statutory consultees namely Institute of Nature Conservation, port authorities and a number of public authorities responsible for marine resources management.
There are informal consultation activities implemented during the licensing process: usually developers prepare a number of informal public events to disseminate the project and collect the public feed-back on their activities at sea.
GUIDANCE AND ADVICE
It is clear to applicants what permits are required, in what order and what information must be supplied at what time, but no specific guideline (single document) is available for developers.
TEST CENTERS
Deployment at Bimep is already pre-consented so developers do not have to submit a full application comprising all the typical consents providing certain initial conditions are met.
