Red Eléctrica identifies 74 grid nodes eligible for demand access tenders, a long-awaited signal for the market following the award of 928 MW, reopening questions over the next phase for large electricity loads, industrial electrification and energy storage.
According to the Spanish system operator, these are transmission grid nodes where the conditions exist to launch a demand access tender, under Articles 20 bis and 20 quater of Royal Decree 1183/2020, the regulation governing access and connection procedures in transmission and distribution networks.
The publication also outlines a broad territorial map. Andalusia accounts for 18 nodes, including Algeciras, Archidona, Caparacena, Cartama, Cristóbal Colón, Palos, Pinar del Rey, Santiponce and Villanueva del Rey. Castile and León has 12 nodes, including Barcina, Buniel, Cerrato, Herrera, La Lora, Luengos, Tierra de Campos and Vilecha, while Aragón gains relevance with nine nodes such as Ave Zaragoza, Biescas, Cartujos, Fuendetodos, Montetorrero and Villanueva de Gállego. Castile-La Mancha, Extremadura, Galicia, Catalonia, Valencia and Madrid complete a portfolio combining 220 kV and 400 kV nodes, a distinction that matters because it signals potential for very different demand profiles, from medium-sized industrial loads to large-scale electro-intensive projects.
The composition also combines 220 kV and 400 kV nodes, a relevant mix because it potentially enables different demand profiles, from medium-sized industrial loads to large-scale electro-intensive projects.
15042026-relacion-nudos-susceptibles-convocatoria-concurso-capacidad-acceso-demanda-abril-2026
More than an announcement of immediate tenders, the list acts as a roadmap showing where future calls could emerge if the regulatory conditions are met.
But a second publication from Red Eléctrica adds another layer that changes the reading. The registry of received demand access applications shows most developers are still targeting nodes where no tender has been activated, seeking access through ordinary channels rather than competing at congested points.
Dozens of applications appear across multiple nodes and technologies, including grid-connected energy storage, upgrades to existing consumption, self-consumption projects and pure demand applications at consumption-dedicated positions.
Some filings also reveal the scale of access needs beginning to emerge, with requests such as 395 MW at Aragón 400, 200 MW at Brazatortas 400, and more than 600 MW aggregated across different positions at Soto de Ribera.
But the data that begins to reshape market expectations appears when cross-referencing both lists. Of the 74 eligible nodes, only eight currently show applications that trigger a potential tender signal: Caparacena, Tajo Encantada and Villanueva del Rey in Andalusia; Arenas de San Juan and Brazatortas in Castile-La Mancha; La Lora in Castile and León; Nuevo Vigo in Galicia; and Morata in Madrid.
That represents just over 10% of the nodes identified by the operator, a relatively low proportion that tempers any expectation of an immediate wave of large-scale tenders.
But those eight cases reveal a more significant trend: energy storage is emerging as the main driver of access pressure. Five of those nodes are being pushed exclusively or partially by grid-scale battery projects:
- Caparacena adds three applications for 20 MW, 20 MW and 25 MW.
- La Lora records two applications for 50 MW and 49 MW.
- Arenas de San Juan includes 52 MW.
- Tajo Encantada adds 11 MW.
- Villanueva del Rey adds another 100 MW.
That pattern introduces a shift from the first tenders: the debate over demand access is no longer driven solely by large electro-intensive consumers and is increasingly incorporating energy storage.
Pure demand applications at nodes with tender signals are fewer, though sizeable: 200 MW in Brazatortas, 111 MW in Morata and 100 MW in Nuevo Vigo. Villanueva del Rey stands out as a singular case, with an additional 250 MW self-consumption application connected at a generation evacuation position, the largest capacity request among nodes currently under tender signal.
On one hand, the tenders are not yet underway and remain subject to possible future calls. But early signals suggest that when this debate begins to take shape, energy storage could play a far more central role than previously anticipated.
