Until now, adding a battery to a renewable plant with regulated remuneration carried a hidden cost: part of the regulated income could be lost. Real Decreto 917/2025 removes that penalty and brings energy storage within the rules of the electricity system.
The text is short, but it changes the bottom line of many operating solar PV and wind plants. We summarise what it says, when it applies from and what still remains to be developed.
What RD 917/2025 is
RD 917/2025 (BOE-A-2025-20694) amends Real Decreto 413/2014, the regulation governing electricity generation from renewables, cogeneration and waste and its specific remuneration regime. The aim is to adapt it to a system with a high share of renewables, in which energy storage is no longer an experiment but an essential component.
The decree pursues four goals:
- Integrate energy storage into the specific remuneration regime.
- Prevent renewable + battery hybrid plants from losing income.
- Set technical control and telemetry obligations.
- Recognise energy storage as a priority, flexible technology.
The four changes that matter
1. Energy sent to the battery is paid too
Articles 11 and 21 are amended. A hybridised installation without self-consumption (for example, solar PV plus battery) receives remuneration for all the energy generated by the renewable module, even if part of it charges the battery instead of being exported to the grid.
In addition, equivalent operating hours are calculated using the energy generated at the plant busbars. In practice, storing energy no longer reduces the hours counted, nor therefore the regulated income.
2. Same dispatch priority as a pure renewable
Annex XV includes energy storage in the priority order for non-market-based downward redispatch. Renewables with storage have the same priority as pure renewables, the concept of ‘non-dispatchable generation’ disappears, and preference is given to the hybrid technologies that contribute most to system flexibility and stability.
Storage no longer costs you. The hybrid plant is paid for what it generates, not only for what it sells each hour.
3. Control and telemetry for large systems
Article 7.c) and the twelfth additional provision are updated. Energy storage installations of more than 5 MW (0.5 MW in non-mainland territories) must:
- be assigned to a generation and demand control centre;
- send real-time telemetry to the system operator (Red Eléctrica).
In hybrid plants, the data must be sent disaggregated: the generation module on one side and the storage module on the other.
4. Remuneration of type 3 hybridisation
For type 3 hybridisations (renewables with storage and no self-consumption), the remuneration for operation (Ro) is calculated on the energy generated at the plant busbars, not only on the energy sold to the market. The hours count and income adjustments no longer penalise the battery.
Key dates
The changes did not all come into force at once. As of September 2026, all three blocks already apply.
- Redispatch priorityFirst month after entry into force
- Remuneration and hybridisationArts. 11 and 21, type 3 hybridisation
- Control centres and telemetryBESS > 5 MW (0.5 MW non-mainland)
Before and after
| Aspect | Before | With RD 917/2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Remuneration for operation (Ro) | Only for energy sold to the market | Includes energy sent to the battery (type 3 hybrids without self-consumption) |
| Equivalent hours (art. 21) | Did not take energy storage into account | Calculated using energy at the plant busbars |
| Redispatch priority (Annex XV) | No priority for energy storage | Renewable + BESS with the same priority as pure renewables |
| Control and telemetry (art. 7 and 12th additional provision) | No specific obligation | BESS above 5 MW assigned to a control centre with real-time telemetry |
What the decree does not resolve
RD 917/2025 is a step forward, but it does not cover everything. It is worth being clear on this before running the numbers.
- Standalone energy storage still has no remuneration of its own. A standalone battery receives neither Ro nor Ri. Its revenue still comes from the market and, in future, from mechanisms such as capacity payments or any auctions that are designed.
- Technical details come later. Communication protocols and specific Red Eléctrica requirements are deferred to ministerial orders and operating procedures. Upcoming MITECO and REE publications need to be followed.
- Classifying hybrids opens doors. Defining type 3 hybridisation clarifies how the energy is settled and can ease the permitting and financing of these projects.
The decree is aligned with Regulation (EU) 2019/943, Directive (EU) 2018/2001 and the PNIEC 2023–2030, which call for removing barriers to energy storage and for no discrimination between generation and storage.
What it means for a developer
The practical consequence is direct: an operating plant can add batteries without losing its specific remuneration regime while keeping its grid access and connection permits. This speeds up repowering and turns hybridisation into a business decision, not a regulatory one.
Permitting still takes work. Depending on the status of the asset, these are the usual steps:
- Ready-to-build plant: update of grid access and connection, hybridisation application, consumption point application, simplified DIA, guarantees and licences.
- Operating plant: the same, plus a land-use review. If capacity is also being expanded, it is applied for together with the hybridisation.
On the technical side, the system must be ready for what the decree requires: separate metering of generation and storage, real-time telemetry and plant control able to follow setpoints. At BK we integrate the battery with our EMS and the power plant controller (PPC), and set up communications for the relevant control centre.
Do you have an operating or RtB plant? Read why hybridise a solar plant in 2026 or see how we approach PV + BESS hybridisation.