European Union: Energy Law

Legal and regulatory developments impacting sectors across the economy, including energy, construction and engineering, transport and digital infrastructure.

Spain has launched a €9 billion electricity capacity market following EU approval, introducing a centralised mechanism that procures firm capacity through sealed-bid auctions administered by Red Eléctrica de España. The framework prioritizes renewable generation, storage, and demand-side resources for new investments while imposing strict emission limits on existing generation facilities.

The Council of State has issued a landmark ruling that fundamentally reshapes liability allocation in renewable energy asset transactions, determining that repayment obligations for forfeited incentives cannot automatically transfer to new plant owners. This decision challenges the established practice of Italy's energy services manager (GSE) and provides crucial protection for investors acquiring existing renewable energy facilities by limiting their exposure to historical compliance issues.

Grid congestion in the Netherlands is creating unprecedented challenges for commercial real estate landlords and tenants, raising critical questions about who bears responsibility when insufficient electricity capacity affects leased premises. This analysis examines how Dutch Energy Act provisions, landlord-tenant law, and recent court decisions intersect to determine liability for grid capacity shortfalls.

Spain's draft Royal Decree introduces stringent energy sustainability, environmental, resilience and digital sovereignty requirements for data centers, including renewable additionality, hourly correlation, and efficiency standards. The regulation applies to all access and connection permits obtained after entry into force, with specific compliance deadlines for projects in progress and those with granted permits not yet connected to the grid.

The European Commission has proposed a comprehensive overhaul of the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) for the period after 2030, introducing slower emission cap reductions, expanded roles for carbon removal and international credits, and new conditions for free allocation to industry. The proposal aims to balance climate targets with industrial competitiveness while creating financing mechanisms for green transition, affecting sectors from waste incineration to aviation and maritime transport.

The Irish Government has secured approval for revisions to the Heat (Networks and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill, legislation designed to accelerate district heating adoption across Ireland. Research indicates that waste heat from data centres and pharmaceutical plants could meet approximately 80% of Dublin's heat demand by 2050, potentially heating over 1 million homes through renewable and waste heat sources.

France's Multiannual Energy Program (PPE 3) establishes a framework for 2026-2035, prioritizing wind farm repowering to boost renewable energy capacity. However, structural challenges including grid connection delays, rising costs, local acceptance issues, and political uncertainty continue to impact investor confidence. Can the balance between repowering existing wind farms and developing new greenfield projects successfully drive France's energy sovereignty and electrification goals?

Ireland's RESS 6 renewable electricity support scheme introduces significant changes including NZIA compliance requirements, a new composite scoring methodology combining price, resilience and energy system integration factors, and technology-specific auction pots for wind and solar projects. The scheme will support successful projects until 2046, with stricter obligations around supply chain diversification, cybersecurity standards, and Public Service Obligation compliance compared to previous iterations.