30 Sep Roadmap for the InEExS Project on policies for replicating innovative energy service models: a national approach
Verdia Legal has been a participating partner in the LIFE InEExS Innovative Energy (Efficiency) Service Models for Sector Integration via Blockchain project since its inception in November 2022, providing the necessary legal advice in the development of the different phases of the project. The main objective of this project is to promote the deployment of integrated energy services across sectors and energy vectors, as well as the ‘tokenisation’ of energy saving data on a public Blockchain to facilitate cooperation between market segments and players.
Among other responsibilities, one of Verdia Legal’s tasks has been providing advice on the development and evaluation of the legal and contractual schemes for the business models, in order to design suitable contract models that can be replicable and facilitate the implementation of sector integrating smart energy services and the deployment of a wide range of sustainable technologies. The developed contractual frameworks can be found here.
As part of the project, the document entitled “Policy roadmaps for the replication of innovative energy service models“ was drafted, setting out recommendations that aim at promoting the digitalisation of the energy system towards the transition to clean energy.
This roadmap has been designed as a European-wide project to provide a basis for the preparation of equivalent reports at a national level, including the specific characteristics of each European Union member state.
To complement the roadmap, the present report provides an overview of the various aspects mentioned in the document, placing them in the context of Spanish regulation. To this end, we will analyse the state of regulation in some of the different areas of interest considered in the roadmap, such as energy communities, smart grids and smart meters, and finally, flexibility markets.
1. Energy communities
The development of energy communities in Spain has significantly advanced in recent years since their inclusion in the Electricity Sector Law as entities within the electricity sector. Such a recognition came in 2020 with the publication of the Royal Decree-Law 23/2020, which partially transposed the European directives on renewable energy and the internal electricity market, defining and differentiating between renewable energy communities (REC) and citizen energy communities (CEC).
It was expected that this partial transposition of EU legislation would be completed by the approval of a royal decree that would specify the development and specific regulation of both entities. In this regard, a draft text was submitted for public consultation, but to date it has not been approved or published.
Despite this standstill in the regulatory development of energy communities, the proliferation of these entities has continued to increase. This has been mainly driven by the support measures and incentive programmes promoted by the government within the framework of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR) and the Next Generation EU funds, as well as the implementation of the PNIEC objectives.
The three aid programmes that form the core of the support system for energy communities in Spain are the CE Implementa, CE Impulsa and CE Oficinas programmes managed by the IDAE, under the umbrella of which the creation and development of energy communities throughout the country has been promoted, financing actions in renewable energy, energy efficiency, sustainable mobility and demand management.
For all these reasons, it can be considered that Spain is already implementing many of the recommendations included in the InEExS Roadmap, such as the alignment of national regulations with the EU definitions of energy communities, the legal recognition and administrative and financial support of these entities, and the provision of subsidies and aid programmes for these projects. Likewise, specific objectives have been established at national and local level to promote citizen-led energy actions, generating confidence and boosting local participation in the energy transition.
2. Smart grids and smart meters
The implementation of smart grids and smart meters is essential to provide real-time information on energy use to consumers and suppliers, thereby promoting flexibility in the electricity market. Spain is a leader in some areas of digitalisation. In fact, the report ‘Unlocking flexibility: No-regret actions to remove barriers to demand response’, prepared by the European Union Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators, notes that in Spain the deployment of smart meters in domestic consumers is close to 100%, one of the highest percentages in the European Union.
Thus, the massive rollout of smart meters, which facilitates remote reading, management and time-of-use billing, as well as remote management, has provided the distribution network with a basic digitalisation infrastructure.
The development of smart grids remains a priority on the national agenda, backed by the 2021-2030 Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan (PNIEC) and the PRTR Plan, with significant investments earmarked for the digitisation of the grid and the integration of renewables. Initiatives such as Royal Decree 1125/2021 have channelled European funds for these purposes.
Despite this, the digitisation of the grid faces numerous challenges, many of which are directly linked to grid remuneration. The digital transformation of the electricity system requires large investments and a regulatory framework that ensures fair remuneration and incentivises modernisation, avoiding cost overruns for consumers, but without jeopardising the economic viability of grid management companies.
Other challenges facing the digitisation of networks include the necessary modernisation of old infrastructure, the integration of renewable energies and storage management, interoperability and real-time visibility, cybersecurity and data protection, the territorial digital divide and consumer participation.
Many of these challenges coincide with the recommendations included in the Roadmap and are, in turn, closely aligned with the InEExS Project. We highlight, for example, the need to develop interoperable systems for the secure exchange of data between stakeholders, which must be accompanied by the corresponding establishment of national guidelines on the exchange of energy data under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). It should be noted that the InEExS Project has analysed the challenges posed by the emergence and use of distributed ledger technologies such as blockchain and smart contracts in the development of business models that facilitate the implementation of smart energy services.
3. System flexibility and flexibility markets
In Europe, the concept of flexibility has been defined by Regulation (EU) 2024/1747, which in its Article 2 defines it as ‘the ability of the electricity system to adapt to the variability of generation and consumption patterns, as well as to the availability of the network, across different market time horizons’. For its part, Article 32 of Directive 2019/944/EU introduces incentives for the use of flexibility in distribution networks, thus laying the foundations for the development of the so-called local flexibility markets.
These markets should enable smarter, more efficient and sustainable management of the electricity system, benefiting both operators (by optimising the use of electricity infrastructure and enabling the integration of renewable energies) and participants and consumers (by allowing them to have better control over their energy consumption and, where appropriate, receiving compensation for their flexibility when required).
Law 7/2021 on climate change and energy transition established a commitment to develop local energy markets in Spain within twelve months of its entry into force. This development was to be part of the strategy to advance the energy transition, encourage the participation of consumers and energy communities, and facilitate the integration of distributed and renewable resources at the local level. However, this commitment has not been fulfilled within the planned timeframe.
Although the PNIEC (National Strategic Plan for Energy Transition) contemplates initiatives aimed at the future implementation of local markets, in the case of Spain these markets are currently in the process of regulation and regulatory development, and do not yet have a defined and operational framework. The PNIEC recognises the need to advance their regulation, design and implementation, but does not specify concrete actions or deadlines for their implementation.
Nevertheless, regulatory developments are gradually taking place that are paving the way for the implementation of these markets. One of the most significant advances came with the publication of Circular 1/2024, of 27 September, by the National Commission for Markets and Competition (CNMC), which establishes the methodology and conditions for access and connection to the transmission and distribution networks of electricity demand facilities.
Among its new features, it defines the concept of ‘flexible access capacity’ and contemplates the possibility of demand facilities requesting flexible access, with the aim of allowing more efficient use of the network, especially in areas with lower available capacity, and thus promoting the electrification of demand.
Another example is the approval by the Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge (MITERD) in March 2025 of five pilot projects through the regulatory sandbox to test, in a controlled regulatory environment, innovative solutions in flexibility, storage, aggregation and demand management, all of which are focused on making distribution networks more flexible and removing regulatory barriers to participation in balancing markets and flexibility services.
Finally, it should be noted that, recently, legislative initiatives aimed at developing the flexibility of the electrical system have been processed. This was the case with Royal Decree-Law 7/2025, approved in June but which was not able to be ratified and, therefore, was repealed. In response, the Government has chosen to reactivate the regulatory route—which does not require parliamentary majorities—and, in this regard, urgent processing has begun on a draft Royal Decree establishing new regulations on energy supply and contracting. This draft finally develops, through regulations, the figure of the independent aggregator, as an entity that can group demand to participate and operate in all electricity markets, including flexibility services. Another recent legislative initiative related to system flexibility is the proposed ministerial order to create a capacity market in the peninsular electricity system, which was submitted for public consultation at the end of 2024 but is still pending final approval.
4. Conclusion
Both the European Union and Spain have addressed, in their regulations, the key aspects that will enable the digitisation and modernisation of the energy system and steer it towards the decarbonisation of the economy. Thus, the EU has approved decisive plans such as Objective 55 and REPowerEU.
In Spain, documents such as the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR) and the Integrated National Energy and Climate Pact (PNIEC) have served as levers to promote the main initiatives discussed in this article. In fact, these initiatives are key to meeting the objectives set out in the PNIEC, such as achieving a 32% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 compared to 1990, 48% of end-use energy from renewables, and 81% of electricity generation from renewables.
Along the same lines, programmes such as CE IMPLEMENTA have funded more than 120 energy community projects, while strategies such as the Energy Storage Strategy are proving key to digitising the sector and deploying tools that provide flexibility.
Spain has demonstrated a firm commitment to the energy transition, reflected in the promotion of energy communities, the massive roll-out of smart meters and the first steps towards the creation of local flexibility markets. However, regulatory and technical challenges remain, requiring clear national policies and planned measures to consolidate these advances.
All in all, the ambitious targets set by the PNIEC will require additional effort and the integration of innovative solutions such as those proposed within the LIFE InEExS project.