Spain

Getting Electricity in

Spain

Below is a detailed summary of the procedures, time and cost required for a business to obtain an electricity connection for a newly constructed building in Spain.

This information was collected as part of the Doing Business project, which measures and compares regulations relevant to the life cycle of a small- to medium-sized domestic business in 185 economies. The most recent round of data collection was completed in June 2012.

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  • Standardized Company

  • Name of Utility: Iberdrola
  • City: Madrid

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No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs
1 The customer obtains an administrative approval for the connection project from the DIRECCIÓN GENERAL DE INDUSTRIA, ENERGÍA Y MINAS

For any kind of electrical project an administrative authorization has to be obtained from the DIRECCIÓN GENERAL DE INDUSTRIA, ENERGÍA Y MINAS. The engineer in charge of preparing the electrical plans submits a project plan to the Dirección General for approval. The Dirección General will review the documents to establish if the project complies with the relevant standards. The project is not inspected for the purpose of the approval (Iberdrola will later on do an inspection to ensure that the project has been realized according to the plans approved by the Dirección General).

For an installation project in low or medium voltage different types of approvals exist. An installation project that involves a medium voltage connection has to be registered directly with the Dirección General and the cost for the procedure is approximately EUR 1,100. For an installation involving a low voltage connection, customers usually contract a private firm that deals with the administrative procedure for them. This private firm will also inspect the installation before submitting the project for approval. This leads to a higher cost of approximately EUR 1,600.

This procedure can be done simultaneously with the following or in advance.

Agency: DIRECCIÓN GENERAL DE INDUSTRIA, ENERGÍA Y MINAS 		38 calendar days EUR 1,100.0
* 2 The customer submits his service application with Iberdrola and awaits the preparation of an estimate

Most customers submit their service application to Iberdrola at the same time that they apply for the administrative approval with the Dirección General.

Iberdrola will prepare an estimate and inform the customer with a letter about the estimated costs of the project. The payment is made at the bank. A receipt of this payment has to be submitted to Iberdrola at the time when the customer signs the supply contract. After signing the supply contract the connection should be finalized within 5 working days according to the relevant regulation.

Agency: Iberdrola 		20 calendar days EUR 3,604.0
* 3 The customer obtains a licence for the external works from the City Council

Customers need to obtain a license for the external works from the municipality. The taxes on this license are 4% of the cost of the works.
Agency: City Council 		25 calendar days EUR 1,840.0
4 Iberdrola or a private firm does the connection works

Customers have two choices: The external connection works can be done by Iberdrola or the customer can hire a private licensed electrical constructor.

Two cases are considered equally likely for a customer with a load of 140kVA: Iberdrola's distribution network allows for connections of up to 160kVA at the low-voltage level. If the area where the new connection is done has enough spare capacity the connection can be done to the low voltage lines. In some cases two connections are done for one customer to avoid that a new transformer station has to be installed. If no spare capacity exists, Iberdrola will connect the new customer to the medium voltage grid which will increase the connection costs for the customer. A transformer station will have to be installed in these cases and the station remains in the possession of the customer given that he pays for it in its entirety. Iberdrola considers the transformer part of the internal wiring installations of the client.

Agency: Iberdrola 		63 calendar days EUR 46,000.0
* 5 The customer signs a supply contract with Iberdrola and awaits the installation of the meter and energization of the project

The customer elects a supplier for the supply contract and asks for the installation of the meter.
Irrespective of who executes the actual works of the connection (installation of the transformer, excavation for cables etc.), Iberdrola is always in charge of installing the meter and the final energization of the project. The meter can be rented or bought by the customer. Most clients prefer to rent it at an approximate cost of EUR12 per month.

According to Article 79 of the Real Decreto 1955/2000, the utility can levy a security deposit in the amount of one month of future consumption (corresponding to 50 hours supply of the contracted load).
Agency: Iberdrola 		5 calendar days EUR 60.8
* Takes place simultaneously with another procedure.
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