The High Court of Justice of Galicia (TSXG) has once again placed an obstacle in the development of the regional wind sector by annulling the administrative and construction permits of the A Ruña III wind farm, promoted by Eurus Desarrollos Renovables in Mazaricos (A Coruña).
The court argued that the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) was deficient because it failed to jointly evaluate the wind farm and its grid connection line, nor did it sufficiently analyse potential effects on the Natura 2000 Network.
However, it is important to clarify that when the project was authorised—under the provisions of Law 21/2013 on Environmental Assessment and the Galician Law 8/2009 on Wind Energy Utilisation, prior to the amendments introduced by Royal Decree 1183/2020—it was legally possible to process both administrative files independently.
This has triggered a new episode of legal uncertainty in Galicia, a region that accounts for nearly 20% of the wind projects under development in Spain and which currently has almost 2 GW of capacity suspended due to ongoing court cases.
The ruling comes after both the Spanish Supreme Court and the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) had recently endorsed the environmental procedures applied by the Galician regional government, which had revived a degree of optimism in the sector after years of paralysis.
The Spanish Wind Energy Association (AEE) expressed its “dismay” and warned that such judicial decisions generate “a loss of investor confidence and a serious risk to the country’s regulatory stability.” The organisation recalled that the Spanish wind sector has maintained its commitment to Galicia despite the prolonged judicial stalemate but cautioned that each new jurisprudential twist increases legal uncertainty and delays investments that could create thousands of jobs. The AEE urged the authorities to restore a coherent and predictable permitting framework that would allow progress towards the PNIEC targets, which set a goal of 50 GW of onshore wind capacity installed by 2030, without facing constant interpretative shifts.
The grid connection line of A Ruña III had already been evaluated and approved in an independent procedure, a common practice prior to the amendments introduced by Royal Decree 1183/2020 and subsequent regional updates. However, the court ruled that the project’s EIA was invalid for not integrating both elements into a single study—a criterion that contradicts the precedent set by the Supreme Court in the Campelo ruling (March 2025), which stated that sharing infrastructure does not necessarily imply a unified permitting process.
The Galician regional government announced that it will file an appeal before the Supreme Court, arguing that the ruling applies retroactive criteria and poses a severe risk to legal certainty.
The Spanish Context: Sustained but Uneven Growth
Despite Galicia’s paralysis, Spain has maintained steady growth in wind capacity over the past five years. According to data from Red Eléctrica de España (REE) and the Spanish Wind Energy Association (AEE), the country reached a total installed capacity of 31.6 GW in 2024, compared to 23.5 GW in 2019—an increase of more than 8 GW driven mainly by new installations in Castilla y León, Aragón and Andalusia, which together account for over 50% of the new capacity.
Galicia, however, has not kept pace. Since 2021, the region has added barely 50 MW due to the cascade of precautionary suspensions issued by the TSXG. Currently, Galicia has 4 GW of operational wind capacity, with a further 2.5 GW at various stages of development or construction that remain blocked.
This delay not only jeopardises compliance with Spain’s National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan (PNIEC)—which sets a national target of 62 GW of wind capacity by 2030—but also endangers the continuity of the Galician industrial supply chain, which hosts factories producing towers, blades and other strategic components.
Three Years of Judicial Stalemate: A Timeline of the Deadlock
The current wind energy paralysis in Galicia began in 2022, when the TSXG started issuing precautionary suspension orders for new wind farm construction permits, invoking the precautionary principle. These decisions were based on expert reports warning of potential irreversible damage to protected species or acoustic impacts on nearby residential areas. By the end of 2024, the court had suspended more than 60 projects, totalling nearly 2 GW.
In parallel, the courts addressed procedural questions. During 2023, several environmental associations alleged that the authorisations violated the public participation rights set out in Directive 2011/92/EU, as projects had been made available for public consultation before all sectoral reports were gathered. The TSXG referred the matter to the CJEU, which on 1 August 2025 ruled in favour of the regional government, clarifying that the directive does not require authorities to have all reports in hand before opening the public consultation period, provided that participation is early and effective. This ruling dispelled one of the main grounds for legal challenges.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court issued the Campelo ruling in March 2025, overturning the TSXG’s interpretation of alleged project “fragmentation.” The higher court determined that the existence of shared infrastructure does not require a single environmental file, as long as cumulative effects between projects are analysed. This decision was seen as an endorsement of the methodology used by the Galician government and developers to structure complex projects.
With both rulings in place, the sector believed the most uncertain stage had been overcome. However, the new A Ruña III judgment introduces an additional element: the TSXG no longer questions the formal procedure but rather the material scope of environmental assessments, even if previous legislation did not require such integration.
The result of this judicialisation is an unprecedented investment freeze. According to industry estimates, the delays in Galicia threaten more than €3 billion in direct investment and over 2,500 jobs related to wind farm construction and maintenance. The AEE warns that each year of delay translates into 10% less new wind capacity at the national level, undermining competitiveness and decarbonisation targets.
Developers also highlight the reputational risk for Galicia as a destination for energy investment. Major international groups that had been developing projects in the region for over a decade have relocated part of their pipelines to other regions or countries with more stable regulatory frameworks. Meanwhile, Galician wind manufacturers and logistics firms warn of the loss of factory contracts due to the lack of new projects.
Industry Demands: Legal Certainty and Stable Planning
Since 2022, the wind sector has repeatedly stated that the lack of legal certainty is the main risk factor for meeting PNIEC targets. Trade associations and regional organisations call for closer coordination between the Ministry for Ecological Transition, the Galician government and the courts to establish unified criteria for environmental permitting and cumulative impact assessment. They also demand an update of Galicia’s Wind Sector Plan, in force since 1997, and a revision of the environmental sensitivity map to channel new capacity towards suitable areas.
In response, the Galician government has partially amended Law 8/2009 on Wind Energy Utilisation, introducing provisions to streamline procedures and strengthen strategic environmental assessment. However, each modification has been followed by new legal challenges, resulting in a cycle of litigation and reform that, far from providing stability, has prolonged uncertainty. The regional administration insists that its projects meet EU standards and that the judicial decisions reflect an expansive interpretation of the law.
Industry representatives, meanwhile, stress that this is not about relaxing environmental standards but about providing predictability in the permitting process. They call for clear rules from the outset, respect for deadlines and stable environmental criteria throughout the administrative process.
Towards a Resolution
While awaiting the Supreme Court’s decision on the A Ruña III appeal, the sector watches the case closely. If the higher court upholds its previous doctrine and overturns the TSXG ruling, a more favourable jurisprudential line will be consolidated, strengthening regulatory stability and facilitating the reactivation of suspended projects. Conversely, if the Supreme Court confirms the joint evaluation criterion, companies will have to adapt their procedures to a stricter standard, assuming higher costs and longer timelines.
In any case, the Galician experience offers a clear lesson: without regulatory coherence and institutional coordination, the energy transition slows down. Wind power—central to Spain’s decarbonisation commitments—requires a predictable planning and permitting framework where environmental protection and legal certainty are not opposing forces but complementary objectives.
