Tuesday, June 3, 2025
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Companies from diverse sectors such as industry, technology, and energy—including Moeve, Microsoft, and Cabify—alongside representatives from civil society, have come together to propose a new productive model.
On May 22, the initiative Green and Connected Spain was launched, an alliance of more than 70 companies from the industrial, technological, and energy sectors, along with civil society representatives, aimed at driving economic and industrial transformation through renewable energy.
Representatives of the new collaboration network, which includes companies such as Iberdrola, Bosch, Moeve, Carrefour, and Microsoft, desire to “promote a process of dialogue and knowledge exchange among key stakeholders who share a common vision: to strengthen energy autonomy and foster sustainable and cohesive industrial development.” This is what they have advocated during working sessions where they identified the main challenges and solutions to achieve a new productive model. Their proposal aims to ensure a domestic energy supply that facilitates digitalization, job creation, territorial cohesion, and emissions reduction.
But what is the starting point? Currently, Spain has a unique opportunity thanks to its abundance of renewable resources. According to members of the alliance, this would allow the country to “improve its competitiveness and strengthen its economic model” through a green and digital reindustrialization. Having access to renewable and local energy boosts energy independence and creates favorable conditions for attracting investment in strategic sectors such as battery factories, data centers, or tech industries.
However, these projects sometimes fail to materialize. And that’s precisely the crux of the matter. The reasons? “A lack of capacity to connect to the electricity grid, complex administrative procedures, and a heavy tax burden,” according to the newly established cluster.
In 2024, “of the 67 GW of electrical power requested, 33 GW (49%) had to be rejected due to lack of network”, which meant losing 60,000 million euros in investments. In addition to this, the lengthy processing processes prevent the available economic opportunities from being fully exploited.
Reducing administrative complexity to boost strategic autonomy
The alliance has outlined ten proposals aimed at positioning Spain as Europe’s benchmark for sustainability and connectivity. The starting point is to “shorten approval timelines” for strategic industrial projects by implementing one-stop shops, fast-track procedures, and eliminating redundancies. Streamlining and simplifying administrative procedures would help attract investment aligned with the green and digital transition. The group is also calling for the use of self-certifications and tacit approvals to ease access to the power grid and streamline processes tied to energy infrastructure.
Alongside regulatory simplification, they propose “bolstering administrative capacity and improving oversight of permitting procedures.” Local best-practice guides are highlighted as effective tools. For the alliance, it is crucial to ensure compliance with deadlines and provide greater certainty to industrial developers, eliminating barriers that currently slow down the development of new projects.
Although Spain offers competitive electricity generation prices, “the final cost paid by consumers and industries is one of the highest in the EU”, partly due to a high tax burden. The cluster is advocating for “lower electricity taxes” to ensure electricity isn’t disadvantaged compared to imported fossil fuel energy sources. This is seen as essential for industrial competitiveness and aligned with the EU’s Clean Industrial Deal and the Action Plan for Affordable Energy.
Likewise, Green and Connected Spain advocates for the development of “industrial capabilities that reinforce our strategic autonomy.” This includes supporting companies committed to decarbonization and facilitating the entry of international industries. The alliance calls for the introduction of regulatory mechanisms that reduce the risk of investing in clean technologies, following the example of countries like Germany and the Netherlands. They also advocate for strengthening industrial ecosystems around renewable energy.
On the other hand, “eliminating the cap on network investments” is essential for Spain to respond to future demand. The alliance suggests authorizing early investments - as France is already doing - and oversizing infrastructure to facilitate the arrival of new industries. Planning must be dynamic and not reactive, allowing companies to connect when they need to, without structural delays.
The alliance suggests attracting investment, without increasing electricity bills, with a suitable fiscal framework. They emphasize that Spain needs to be competitive in relation to other countries with similar conditions in both the European and international environment.
Employment and territorial cohesion
On another front, the alliance underscores that the energy transition could become a major driver of employment. To maximize this potential, they propose revising training programs, promoting reskilling initiatives, and creating a “national green jobs plan” with a strong focus on rural areas. According to the document, between 250,000 and 350,000 jobs could be generated by 2030 if the investments provided for in the Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan are implemented.
Finally, the alliance calls for integrating territorial cohesion into industrial planning: “The potential of each region, especially rural areas, must be taken into account,” it stresses. To achieve this, the group advocates for geographical flexibility in grid planning and incentives for land acquisition. “The green and connected model should be a driving force for equity, balanced development, and repopulation of rural areas,” it concludes.
In essence, the new organization’s position paper argues that “greater ambition is needed in public policy,” along with a State Pact to ensure long-term regulatory stability. This transition, they insist, must translate into “tangible investments, quality jobs, and territorial cohesion,” ensuring that growth is distributed across the entire country. “Only then can Spain establish itself as an industrial and technological powerhouse,” the alliance concludes.
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