The energy panorama that renewables are leaving in the Spanish state leaves some interesting realities, such as Empty Spain is energetic Spainwith regions such as Castilla-La Mancha, Castilla y León or Aragón as prominent hubs that supply other Autonomous Communities.
Exporting it is all well and good, but surplus energy provides an opportunity to get more out of it. As? Becoming an industrial oasis. Aragón knows this and has everything it needs: abundant energy and good communications (another thing it’s how they are). And it has already started with data centersbut it’s just the beginning.
Why is it important. Because the window of opportunity for the Aragonese electrical system in Europe is where two trends come together:
- The energy transformation, leaving fossil fuels behind in favor of renewables, a subject of which he is an advanced student.
- The digital economy, with data centers at the forefront of the new advanced industry with high electrical demand.
The opportunity is real, but it doesn’t last forever. Aragon competes against other regions at the European level to establish itself as the best place to build this digital infrastructure in the eyes of those who make the decision in search of a territory with abundant and reliable energy.
context. Aragon has energy. In fact, it produces twice the energy it consumes. Its energy generation is a mix with a high weight of renewables. More specifically and as stated in the report by the Basilio Paraíso Foundation and PwCAt the end of 2025, the Aragonese community has 13,793 MW of installed power, of which 82.5% comes from renewables (mostly wind and solar).
Of the 22,365 GWh that it produces per year, it consumes only 10,659 GWh. In short: you have 11,700 GWh per year to spare. Historically, the Aragonese system has exported this surplus, but now it wants to convert it into a differential strategic asset in the event of the eventual arrival of high value-added industries.
In figures. Throughout the article we have already been sliding some numbers that better outline the Aragonese energy scenario according to the aforementioned report and the Aragon Energy Plan 2024-2030which we summarize here:
- Aragón produces 22,365 GWh per year and only consumes 10,659 GWh. It has “left over” 11,700 GWh per year.
- 82% of its electricity already comes from renewable sources.
- Data centers already account for 14% of the electricity consumption of the entire autonomous community.
- In 2025, electricity demand increased by 7.2%: the key is in the new large consumers.
- By 2030, the objective is to attract new demand of 5.4 GW: 3.7 GW associated with data centers and 1.7 GW for other large electro-intensive consumers.
The challenge is not energy generation, but the connection. The link between this available energy and the ability to use it effectively in industries with high energy demand is having an evacuation and connection infrastructure. In short: being able to bring energy to where it is needed.
He draft plan 2024-2030 establishes a balance between the supply of connection points, of 15.2 GW, and the potential demand (13.84 GW). Of course, as long as they materialize in a timely manner, so that a potential promoter finds the connection point where and when they need it and that the supply is also stable enough.
A bottleneck called Zaragoza. The problem is in Zaragoza and its surroundings. The capital of the community is the environment with the most pressure as it is the place that attracts the most projects. So:
- Of all the connection capacity that has already been authorized, only 12.7% is operational.
- Available capacity in the distribution network plummeted to 3.48 MW at the beginning of 2026, compared to 256 MW available in September 2024.
- Almost half of all requested power (48%) corresponds to data centers.
The solutions are on the table. The Basilio Paraíso Foundation report also provides the levers for Aragón to take advantage of this window of opportunity. The most urgent is to reinforce the electrical network of Zaragoza and its surroundings, the bastion of this reindustrialization.
In this sense, they call for putting order in the permit queue, prioritizing those with their homework done to release the capacity that is reserved but not being used. The network is not built overnight, so they call for anticipating needs. Finally, it advocates meeting the deadlines of the Plans and Projects of General Interest of Aragon, to offer guarantees for large strategic projects.
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