4 July 2025
Royal Decree-Law 7/2025 of 24 June, popularly known as the “Anti-Blackout Decree”, emerges as an urgent legislative response to the electricity crisis of 28 April 2025, with the aim of strengthening the resilience of Spain’s power system. As underlined in its Preamble, the text seeks to “reinforce the electricity system,” “achieve energy cost savings,” and “provide certainty to stakeholders.” At Foro Industria y Energía, we have conducted an in-depth analysis of this regulation, whose implications for the industrial sector present a mix of opportunities and challenges. In a context where certainty is a key pillar, and persistent uncertainty— as we have repeatedly emphasized— remains one of the greatest threats to business planning and development, it is essential to understand both sides.
Key Opportunities and Positive Measures for Industry
Royal Decree-Law devotes an entire Chapter III to electrification, recognizing it as a key pillar for system resilience and economic competitiveness. It also highlights how boosting electrification, by increasing demand, enables a better use of the electricity system, helping to reduce grid overvoltage—identified by the government as the main cause of the blackout—and lowering unit costs for all consumers. The following measures stand out:
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Revival of support for electro-intensive industry: One of the most direct and economically significant measures is the reactivation of a mechanism previously introduced by Royal Decree-Law 6/2022, which was in force until 22 January 2025. With effect from 23 January 2025 to 31 December 2025, an 80% reduction will apply to access tolls for transmission and distribution networks on electricity bills. This measure, set out in Article 22, represents a substantial fiscal relief that may improve competitiveness and operating margins for electro-intensive companies.
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Boosting electrification of industrial processes: The regulation removes a key fiscal barrier by amending the Economic Activities Tax (Impuesto sobre Actividades Económicas, IAE). Article 23 establishes that electric furnaces and boilers will no longer count their installed capacity toward the tax base. This change directly benefits the replacement of fossil-fuel-based equipment with more efficient and cleaner electric alternatives, encouraging industrial decarbonization.
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Flexibility and optimization in self-consumption: The decree modernizes self-consumption models. Article 24 allows a consumer, including industrial ones, to simultaneously be part of an individual self-consumption setup without surplus and one based on nearby facilities connected through the grid. This flexibility opens new paths for energy optimization, allowing industries to better harness local and nearby generation (e.g., in industrial parks), improving self-supply and reducing reliance on the grid.
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Promoting demand and new flexibility actors: The decree recognizes the value of “demand response” as a source of system flexibility. The creation of the figure of the “self-consumption manager” and the promotion of flexible demand (Article 12, Article 14) enable industries not only to manage their consumption but also to provide services to the electricity system, potentially opening new revenue streams or optimizing energy costs. The self-consumption manager will act as an intermediary or facilitator enabling multiple consumers, including industrial ones, to aggregate their generation and consumption or participate in flexibility markets—again, with the potential for cost savings or additional income.
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Faster repowering of renewable energy: The shortening of administrative and environmental procedures for repowering existing renewable installations (with less than 25% additional capacity), covered in Articles 29, 30, and 31, is a welcome step. This facilitates the modernization and efficiency improvement of renewable assets, enabling the integration of more advanced technologies that support a more robust system and cost reductions for end-users.
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Strengthening power system resilience: Chapter I of the Royal Decree-Law, which includes mandates to the CNMC and the system operator to enhance data supervision and transparency (Articles 1–3), as well as simplifying procedures for hybrid storage (Articles 7 and 8), are essential steps toward a more stable grid. A more resilient and robust network is vital for any industrial electrification effort.
Challenges and Critical Areas for the Industrial Sector
Despite notable progress, a critical review reveals several issues that create uncertainty and may limit the decree’s effectiveness:
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Short duration of incentives: The main concern here is the limited validity of the 80% access toll reduction, which is only applicable until 31 December 2025 (Article 22). For an industrial investor, electrifying processes entails significant capital expenditure and long payback periods—often spanning several years or even decades. An incentive lasting just a few months does not offer the regulatory predictability and stability needed to justify large-scale industrial transformation. It is a temporary relief but not a structural catalyst for investment. Industrial investment requires a far longer time horizon than the one provided. Regulation should therefore better align with the long planning and execution cycles of industrial projects, where medium- and long-term certainty is essential.
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Absence of the National Energy Commission (CNE) in strategic planning: It is striking that, following a critical event such as the 28 April blackout and amid an open debate on sectoral structure, this decree does not include a strategic reflection on the role and future of a strengthened National Energy Commission (Comisión Nacional de la Energía, CNE). At Foro Industria y Energía, we have advocated for a CNE capable of acting as an integrated supervisory and coordinating body within the energy system—able to foster a unified approach that ensures supply security and the country’s strategic autonomy, beyond merely merging existing network operators. The omission of this debate in a regulation of this importance is a major shortcoming, considering the potential long-term stabilizing role such an entity could play.
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Grid capacity and connection process challenges (despite some simplifications): While the decree includes measures to increase planning flexibility and streamline certain procedures, mass industrial electrification and the integration of new renewable generation will still require significant investment and upgrades to grid infrastructure. The actual capacity to absorb new demand and generation, and the practical agility of connection processes for large users, remain critical concerns.
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Limited scope of certain incentives: While support for the electro-intensive industry is welcome, the decree could have gone further in supporting the electrification of other industries not officially classified as “electro-intensive” but still committed to decarbonization and energy efficiency.
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Need for continuity and predictability: As an urgent, reactive decree responding to a specific event, there is an inherent risk that these measures will not have the continuity needed—or that future amendments could shift the regulatory framework, potentially discouraging the long-term investments industrial electrification requires.
Royal Decree-Law 7/2025 is an ambitious step in the right direction to reinforce Spain’s power system and lay the groundwork for greater electrification. The support measures for electro-intensive industry and the removal of fiscal barriers send a strong positive signal. However, at Foro Industria y Energía, we believe the core challenge lies in the lack of a sufficiently long-term horizon for key incentives. For industrial electrification to become a transformative reality and attract significant investment, the regulatory framework must evolve toward greater predictability, stability, and long-term continuity—aligned with the timeframes required for major business investments. Only then can we fully harness the competitive potential of renewable energy and consolidate a more electrified and sustainable industrial sector.