Spain publishes first call for access to its electricity regulatory sandbox
Published on 7th Jul 2023
Applications may be submitted until 1 August 202
On 6 June 2023, the Order TED/567/2023 of 31 May 2023, was published, which announces the access of pilot projects to the regulatory sandbox for the promotion of research and innovation in the electricity sector, provided for in Royal Decree 568/2022, of 11 July 2022.
Applications
Applications may be made within forty days of the publication of the Order in the Official State Gazette (BOE), through the electronic site of the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge. They may be made individually or as a group of entities, with or without legal personality. The application window is currently open until 1 of August 2023.
The projects must be carried out in Spain, be limited in terms of volume, duration and geographical scope, have a maximum duration of 24 months (extendable only if the need to extend the period of development of the tests to give rise to regulatory innovation is justified and provided that it is requested at least three months before the completion date), not cause significant damage to the environment, and meet all the eligibility conditions of Article 6 of Royal Decree 568/2022. In addition, promoters must comply with the requirements included in section 4 of the Order.
Process after applying
Once the applications have been submitted, they will be subject to an ex-ante evaluation consisting of two phases: (i) the first will assess the eligibility conditions of the projects listed in Table 1 of Annex I and (ii) the second will assess the regulatory innovation interest by applying the criteria of Table 2 of Annex I.
At the end of both phases, the results obtained by the pilot projects will be published and a period for allegations will be established.
Subsequently, the Coordination Commission will draw up a draft resolution and submit it to the Secretary of State for Energy for approval by means of a resolution.
Projects that have obtained a favourable prior assessment must first sign a test protocol within six months of notification of the resolution of the Secretary of State for Energy, which will include the commitments made by the project promoters and the verification mechanisms to be applied in order not to cause significant damage to the environment.
Financial guarantees
In addition to the above, the necessary financial guarantees must be deposited before the start of the tests. These guarantees must be maintained for the entire period of time indicated in the test protocol.
The calculation of these guarantees shall take into consideration the analysis of the potential risks involved in the execution of the project and the cost of repairing potential damage and the likelihood of such damage occurring.
Should you wish to know more about the regulatory sandbox for the promotion of research and innovation in the electricity sector, please do not hesitate to contact one of our experts listed below or your usual contact at Osborne Clarke.
