Spain

Supporting Policies for Ocean Energy

NATIONAL STRATEGY

In 2025, Spain continued to solidify its regulatory and governance framework for marine renewable energies — including wave, tidal and other oceanenergy technologies — without issuing a dedicated new national strategy. The strategic context remained anchored in the Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP / PNIEC 2023–2030), updated and approved by Royal Decree 986/2024 in September 2024, whose provisions guided policy implementation.
 
On Ocean Energy, the overall policy context remains guided by the Roadmap for Offshore Wind and Marine Energies (published in 2021), which remains the primary high-level reference for the sector.
 
Regulatory Framework (2025)
 
The Royal Decree 986/2024 applies to marine energy technologies beyond offshore wind and confirms that innovative installations below 20 MW remain exempt from competitive tendering, thereby facilitating early-stage demonstration deployments. Full environmental and administrative procedures remain mandatory (Environmental Impact Assessment, concession for maritime terrestrial public domain, etc.), while detailed parameters of competitive allocation for larger projects will be further defined through subsequent Ministerial Orders.
 
In November 2025, the Spanish government approved Royal Decree RD 997/2025 of November 5, 2025, which approves urgent measures to strengthen the electricity system. In particular, “Article 8. Administrative authorizations for standard generation projects on R&D platforms” includes provisions to facilitate the deployment of test platforms and R&D projects in the energy sector, facilitating plug-and-play connections for technology demonstrators on R&D technology platforms in the marine environment.
 
Marine Spatial Planning (MSP)

Spain’s Maritime Spatial Plans (POEM) — approved in 2023 under RD 150/2023 — continued to serve as the spatial governance basis in 2025. During the year, Spain advanced the Second Cycle of MSP through multistakeholder workshops coordinated by MITECO and CENEAM, ensuring representation of marine renewable energy developers and research institutions in discussions on coexistence, environmental protection and spatial prioritization.

MARKET INCENTIVES

There are no specific market incentives for ocean energy in Spain, but for renewable energy installations in general.
 
Royal Decree 413/2014, of June 6th, 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 3rd, which regulates the economic regime of renewable energies for electricity production facilities and Order TED/1161/2020, of December 4th, which regulates the first auction mechanism for the granting of the economic regime of renewable energies, will allow to start the tender calendar for the next years. The above-mentioned Order TED/1161/2020 establishes a tender of 20 MW every two years focused on “Other Technologies”, where ocean energy is included.

PUBLIC FUNDING PROGRAMMES

In 2025, Spain advanced the execution of EUfunded support schemes for marine renewables under the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR):

• RENMARINAS DEMOS Programme: Continued to disburse funds for pilot scale marine renewable energy projects and testing infrastructures. Several beneficiaries, including national test sites, progressed in project execution and received approved prepayments during 2025, reinforcing Spain’s commitment to demonstration activities.
• PORTEOLMAR Program – Regulatory Order TED/1488/2025 (December 2025): On 19 December 2025, Order TED/1488/2025, of 17 December, of the Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge (MITERD) was published, establishing the regulatory bases for granting aid to investment projects for the physical adaptation of national port infrastructure in ports of general interest for the deployment of offshore wind and other marine renewables in Spain (PORT-EOLMAR Program), within the framework of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan financed by the European Union - NextGenerationEU. These regulatory bases had previously been launched for public consultation in July 2025. The purpose of this PORT-EOLMAR Aid Program is to strengthen Spanish and European strategic autonomy in the Offshore wind & ocean energy value chain, in particular by enabling only unique “infrastructure projects” by port authorities in strategic locations and with high capacity requirements, which significantly improve the logistical capabilities of port infrastructures both on land and at sea, through the construction or adaptation of docks and new operating areas in their rear zone, with all the necessary logistics for the deployment of offshore wind and other marine renewables energies and their value chain in Spain. On 23 December 2025, MITERD, through the Institute for the Diversification and Saving of Energy (IDAE), published and launched the Call for Aid, on a competitive basis, which will be resolved during 2026 by identifying and publishing the beneficiary actions, including the Eligible Costs committed and the aid granted.
• PRTR-wide Adjustments – Order TED/1444/2025: This “omnibus” update refined the regulatory bases of several PRTR programs managed by IDAE, improving alignment with EU State aid rules and affecting programs applicable to marine renewables, including RENMARINAS DEMOS.

 
Spain also provides access to broader national R&D funding programmes that, while not specific to ocean energy, are widely used by developers and research institutions in the sector. Instruments from CDTI—such as PID and CIEN—support industryled innovation through collaborative projects, while the State Research Agency (AEI) funds fundamental and applied research through competitive national calls. These mechanisms have been effectively leveraged to advance oceanenergy technologies in areas like materials, PTO systems, and environmental monitoring, complementing sector specific programmes and strengthening Spain’s overall innovation ecosystem for marine renewable energy.

Consenting processes

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:

• The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment, through the Coasts Directorate-General – is in charge of the authorizations and concessions regarding the occupation of maritime-terrestrial areas. This ministry will also act as the decision making body for all the environmental aspects;
   
• The Ministry of Development, through the Merchant Navy Directorate-General – authorizes the precise activities when they affect maritime safety, navigation and human life at sea;
   
• In case of public ports occupation, the competent port authority shall grant authorization or concession;
   
• Regional governments can participate in the process depending on their competences. In particular, regional governments (there are 17 in Spain) are the decision-making bodies when the site is in internal sea areas (i.e. sea areas lying between two capes).

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.

• Royal Decree 1028/2007, of 20 July – establishes the administrative procedure for processing applications for electricity generating facilities in territorial waters. Although it focuses on offshore wind, it also includes electricity generation from other marine renewable technologies (Article 32). This Decree foresees a simplified procedure governed by Royal Decree 1955/2000, of 1 December, which provides that construction, extension, modification and exploitation of all electric installations listed (in Article 111) require the following administrative procedures and sanctions to be followed:
  • Request for Administrative Authorization (AA) – refers to the project’s draft installation plan as a technical document;
  • Project Execution Approval (AEP) – refers to the commissioning of the specific project and allows the applicant to start construction;
  • Exploitation Authorization (EA) – allows the installations, once the project is installed, to be powered up and proceed to commercial exploitation.
• Law 21/2013, of 9 December, on Environmental Impact Assessment;
• Law 2/2013, of 29 May, for protection and sustainable coastal use and amending the previous Coastal Law of 1998. It provides the legal framework for occupation of the territorial sea, as well as governing issues affecting the fishing sector and safety conditions for maritime navigation. Management and surveillance competences relating to the Public Maritime Domain on Land (MTPD), which includes the territorial sea, rest with the General Council on Coast and Ocean Sustainability which forms part of the Ministry of rural, Marine and Natural Environment. Coastal Demarcation Departments are their representatives in each coastal province and Autonomous Community. Therefore, the development of electric power projects in the territorial sea must comply with the legal requirements governing the administrative process for granting titles to territorial occupation (prior to and during the project development) and associated arrangements (e.g. deadlines, transfers and expiry.

Legislation and regulation that have been adapted to better suit ocean energy:

• The new law for EIA substantially reduces the time for obtaining the Environmental Impact Authorization;
• Royal Decree 1028/2007 – it is simplified for ocean energy since a competitive procedure between promoters (which applied for offshore wind) is not considered for 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.