Public information regarding the electrical substation of the Nostrum data center in Badajoz

The Industry and Energy Area of the Government Delegation in Extremadura has opened for public consultation the request for prior administrative authorization and administrative construction authorization for the link electrical substation (SET enlace) 400/220 kV and the 400 kV overhead supply line SE Riocaya – SET enlace, intended to connect the Nostrum Evergreen data center to the transmission grid. The procedure is published in the Official Gazette of the Province of Badajoz No. 185, dated September 28, 2026, under Announcement 3641/2026 and file number CON-01. Interested parties have a period of 30 business days, counting from the day following publication, to submit allegations.

The request was submitted by Data Riocaya, SLU, with a notification address at Avenida de España, 18, 2nd floor, Cáceres, and was entered into the Registry of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge on August 18, 2025. The direct precedent is the access and connection permit that Red Eléctrica de España, SAU granted on May 31, 2023, to the Nostrum Evergreen consumption facility (DC Badajoz) at its own Riocaya 400 kV electrical substation.

As it is a facility under state jurisdiction, the substantive body competent to resolve both authorizations is the General Directorate of Energy Policy and Mines, of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, while the processing of the file corresponds to the Industry and Energy Area of the Government Delegation in Extremadura. The material execution budget of the project amounts to 12,726,868.47 euros, and all infrastructures are located within the municipality of Badajoz.

A substation with six transformers and expansion reserve

The new SET enlace is projected as an AIS installation with redundancy configuration (2N), designed to maintain service continuity in the event of the unavailability of any of its main elements. It will receive a 400 kV single-circuit duplex overhead line from SE Riocaya and provides for the possible future connection of a second 400 kV double-circuit line.

Its main characteristics are:

• 400 kV switchyard in double-bus configuration with sectioning.
• One overhead line entry position and one reserve position.
• Two sets of 400 kV main busbars with voltage measurement.
• Six transformation positions, plus two to be equipped in the future.
• Two coupling positions and two 400 kV bus sectioning positions.
• Six 400/220 kV power transformers of 110/150 MVA, plus two additional ones planned for the future.

The 220 kV side of the substation, the data center itself, the associated substation SE DC BADAJOZ 220/20 kV, and the four 220 kV high-voltage underground lines connecting both facilities are excluded from this file and are processed independently before the Junta de Extremadura.

A 292-meter overhead line exempt from environmental assessment

The high-voltage overhead line originates from a new position to be constructed at the Riocaya substation and ends at the SET enlace. Its total length is 291.96 meters, with two metal lattice supports, a single-circuit three-phase configuration, and two conductors per phase of type 485-AL1/63-ST1A (LA-545 CARDINAL) made of galvanized aluminum-steel; the selected protection conductor is the OPGW-48. It runs entirely within the municipality of Badajoz.

The announcement specifies that the project does not reach the thresholds of Annex I, group 3, letter g), nor Annex II, group 4, letter b), of Law 21/2013, of December 9, on environmental assessment, nor the criteria of Annex III; therefore, it is not subject to the environmental impact assessment procedure, neither in its ordinary nor simplified modality.

Allegations within 30 business days

Allegations or reports may be submitted within a period of 30 business days through the Common Electronic Registry of the General State Administration, or in person at the Industry and Energy Area of the Government Delegation in Extremadura, at the Government Sub-delegation in Badajoz (avenida de Europa, nº 1, 5th floor, 06071 Badajoz), Monday to Friday from 9:00 to 14:00 hours and by prior appointment. The code for the Industry and Energy Area is EA0040560, and allegations must be addressed to the substantive body, citing the full project reference in the subject line.

The technical documentation can be consulted via the link published in the announcement, and the publication serves as notification in accordance with articles 44 and 45 of Law 39/2015, of October 1, on the Common Administrative Procedure of Public Administrations. The announcement is signed by the director of the Industry and Energy Area, Antonio Jesús Sánchez Conejero.

The processing directly affects the landowners of the municipality of Badajoz through which the line runs and those who may be concerned by the easements of the new substation, which constitutes the connection infrastructure for a data center with 300 MW of power. This file is added to the parallel procedures before the Junta de Extremadura for the remaining 220 and 20 kV installations, such that the schedule of this announcement conditions the industrial development associated with the project in the province.

Source: Official Gazette of the Province of Badajoz, no. 185, September 28, 2026, State Administration, pág. 2-5 (official reference: Announcement 3641/2026, file CON-01).