The Government has once again approved the possibility of exceptionally extending the fifth administrative milestone for obtaining operating licences for renewable energy facilities

Due to the serious supply chain problems the European Union has been experiencing since the administrative milestones set out in Royal Decree-Law 23/2020 came into force, as a result of a series of wars and crises, the Spanish Government has been approving various ‘exceptional’ extensions to some of these milestones to provide legal certainty for developers who, through no fault of their own, have seen their projects fail to progress as expected, either in the bureaucratic phase or during construction.

It is against this backdrop that Royal Decree-Law 7/2026 of 20 March, approving the Comprehensive Plan for the Response to the Crisis in the Middle East (RDL 7/2026), published on 21 March in the Official State Gazette has come about, which in its Article 25 provides for the possibility of reapplying for an exceptional extension of the fifth milestone of Royal Decree-Law 23/2023 – the operating licence – until 31 December 2030.

As was the case with the previous Royal Decree-Laws approved by the Government for this purpose, the requirements for obtaining the extension are: i) to have obtained access and connection permits after 27 December 2013 and before the entry into force of RDL 7/2026, ii) to apply for the extension within three months of the entry into force or from the date of obtaining the administrative construction authorisation, whichever is later, and iii) to indicate the half-year of the year in which the operating licence is expected to be obtained (with the consequent commitment not to obtain it earlier, nor to register in the administrative register of electricity generation facilities).

Although there is a three-month deadline for the application, given the climate of political instability and the precedent set by Decree-Law 7/2025 of 24 June, approving urgent measures to reinforce the electricity system, which was not ratified by the Congress of Deputies, it is advisable to submit the application as soon as possible so that this measure may apply, given that the ratification of RDL 7/2026 will be put to the vote this Thursday, 26 March, in the Congress of Deputies.

Furthermore, as a new legislative provision, developers who have previously benefitted from any of the previous exceptional extensions are now permitted to request a ‘reduction’ if they anticipate obtaining the operating licence within a shorter timeframe.

Therefore, the door remains open for the exceptional extension until 31 December 2030 of the milestone for obtaining the definitive operating licence.