Spain's energy regulator, the CNMC, approved a resolution on July 31, 2026 that creates flexible access permits for electricity demand. It takes effect on September 1, 2026. Where a connection today is either granted with firm capacity or refused, a site will be able to connect "bajo determinadas condiciones tecnicas, operativas o temporales", under defined technical, operational or time-bound conditions, while the network keeps its security margin.
There are four types.
Type 0, on distribution networks, ties the permit to an hourly consumption pattern: the installation may draw its flexible power only inside the authorised time windows.
Type 1, on peninsular distribution networks, is for installations that meet the criteria for firm access under normal conditions but not when part of the network is unavailable. The operator can disconnect them remotely in those periods.
Type 2, also peninsular distribution, applies above 1 MW of flexible capacity and allows the distribution operator to manage that flexibility actively, either on a schedule or in real time.
Type 3 is the transmission-network equivalent, again above 1 MW: the installation reduces consumption when the operator asks for it on security grounds.
Applications for types 0, 1 and 3 open within six months. Type 2 waits until distribution operators have the visibility and control tools to steer a site in real time, and no later than January 1, 2028. Storage, including pumped hydro and batteries, is classified as flexible access as well, which frees firm capacity for other users.
What it means for a charging site
The resolution is about electricity demand in general and does not single out EV charging. Reading it as an EV charging measure is an interpretation, not what the text says.
The mechanism still lands on charging sites, because a depot or a business park is exactly the kind of connection that runs into a full grid. A flexible permit turns the question from "how much capacity can I get" into "how far can I turn down, and how fast". That is a control problem, and it sits above the charger: the site has to shed and restore load across every charge point it has, on a schedule for a type 0 permit or on an operator instruction for a type 2 or 3.
Load management in the backend is what answers it, and it has to work across whatever hardware is already on site. On Plugchoice that runs over OCPP across mixed brands, so the constraint is handled at the site level rather than per charger, and the same setup keeps working when the site adds a different make next year.
Sources: CNMC, "La CNMC aprueba los permisos de acceso flexibles", August 11, 2026.