The Government declares renewable projects in just transition nodes as strategic

The Council of Ministers has declared strategic energy facilities those renewable generation and energy storage projects that are awarded capacity access and evacuation grants in just transition nodes, which accelerates their administrative processing. The decision, adopted at the meeting on July 28, 2026, was published via the Resolution of August 25, 2026, by the Secretary of State for Energy in the Official State Gazette number 221, dated September 7, 2026 (reference BOE-A-2026-18700).

The measure is framed within Royal Decree-Law 7/2026, of March 20, which approves the Comprehensive Response Plan to the Crisis in the Middle East, whose article 21 recognizes the status of preferred energy projects for certain categories, including those declared strategic energy facilities by Agreement of the Council of Ministers. The agreement was adopted upon the proposal of the Third Vice President of the Government and Minister for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, and is signed by the Secretary of State for Energy, Joan Groizard Payeras.

What the declaration implies

The declaration grants the projects the status of preferred energy projects, which entails the declaration of urgency, for reasons of public interest and for the purposes of article 33 of Law 39/2015, regarding authorization procedures, environmental impact statements, administrative resolutions, and the resolution of appeals. The streamlining is limited to processing deadlines and does not alter substantive requirements or environmental guarantees, which remain subject to environmental impact assessments and ordinary controls.

Furthermore, the projects are subject to the specific regime for public works of general interest provided for in the twelfth additional provision of Law 13/2003, which facilitates their urban planning integration. Their promoters must pay the municipalities in which they are located, prior to the start of works, 3% of the materials, civil works, and electromechanical assembly items of the execution budget.

Scope and purpose of just transition nodes

The procedures for granting access and evacuation capacity in just transition nodes, regulated by virtue of the twenty-second additional provision of Law 24/2013, of December 26, on the Electricity Sector, are linked to the closure of thermal or thermonuclear generation facilities. Their purpose is to promote the generation of alternative economic activity and maximize socioeconomic benefits in the affected areas.

• The procedures incorporate the obligation of promoters to execute socio-economic commitments for employment, training, and business revitalization within the territory.
• The declaration does not extend to the general procedure for ordering by temporal priority regulated in Royal Decree 1183/2020, regarding access and connection to transport and distribution networks.
• The projects allow for the efficient use of the already planned evacuation infrastructure, avoiding its underutilization.
• They contribute to the fulfillment of the objectives of the Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan and to the security of supply through the orderly incorporation of new renewable capacity.

Appeals against the agreement

The agreement concludes the administrative route. A contentious-administrative appeal may be filed against it before the Contentious-Administrative Chamber of the Supreme Court within two months from the day following its publication, as well as an optional appeal for reversal before the Council of Ministers within one month.

The declaration represents a decisive boost for the economic and social reactivation of the territories affected by the closure of thermal power plants, by accelerating the arrival of new renewable and storage capacity that incorporates employment and business revitalization commitments linked to the just transition, without lowering the required level of environmental protection.

Source: Official State Gazette, no. 221, September 7, 2026, Sec. I, page 119676 (official reference: BOE-A-2026-18700).