Nordés wind farm cancelled: Greenalia loses 67 MW and recovers €5.8M in guarantees

Key data

A 67.2 MW wind project with six years of processing behind it has just been cancelled, not due to lack of wind or investment, but due to something increasingly common in Spain: the impossibility of connecting to the electricity transmission grid. Greenalia Wind Power Nordés, SLU has filed a formal withdrawal with the Directorate General for Energy Policy and Mines, which accepted it through a resolution published on 20 October 2026.

The legal basis for the rejection is article 53.1.a) of Law 24/2013 on the Electricity Sector, which requires permission for access and connection to the transmission grid as an essential requirement to obtain prior administrative authorization. Without this permission, the file cannot proceed.

What does this regulation establish?

The resolution accepts the withdrawal filed by Greenalia Wind Power Nordés, SLU regarding the application for prior administrative authorization of the "Nordés" wind farm and its evacuation infrastructure. The specific effects are as follows:

• The authorization file for the Nordés farm (67.2 MW) in the provinces of Lugo and A Coruña is concluded.
• The Nordés farm file is de-accumulated from the Mistral farm, which continues its processing independently.
• The developer's right to request the return of deposited guarantees is recognized, for a total amount of 5.824 million euros.
• The determining reason is the supervening impossibility of obtaining permission for access and connection to the transmission grid, after attempting it successively at the Meirama 220 kV and Abegondo 220 kV substations, both without available capacity.

The project had been initiated in 2020. For six years, the developer kept the file active and guarantees immobilized, until saturation of the transmission grid in the area made any alternative connection point unfeasible.

Economic and operational impact

For Greenalia, the cancellation means the end of a development investment sustained over six years. The recovery of 5.824 million euros in guarantees is the only immediate tangible return, but does not offset the costs of processing, technical studies, engineering and management accumulated since 2020.

From a sectoral perspective, this case has broader implications:

• High opportunity cost: 67.2 MW cancelled equals renewable generation capacity that will not be incorporated into the system in the short term in that area of Galicia.
• Immobilized capital: The 5.824 million euros in guarantees were blocked for years without generating returns, a real financial cost for the developer.
• Effect on the Mistral farm: The de-accumulation of files is a positive signal for Mistral, which now processes independently and without the burden of the cancelled file.
• Market signal: The saturation of key substations such as Meirama 220 kV and Abegondo 220 kV in Galicia is an indicator that the transmission grid has not grown at the pace of connection requests.

Who is affected?

• Greenalia Wind Power Nordés, SLU: Direct developer affected by the cancellation and beneficiary of the guarantee refund.
• Greenalia (group): The Mistral farm, de-accumulated, continues its processing and may be affected or benefited by the resolution of the grid bottleneck.
• Wind developers in Galicia: Any company with pending projects for connection at the Meirama or Abegondo substations must review its access situation.
• Renewable investors in Spain: This case reinforces the need to audit the status of the access and connection permit before committing capital to project development.
• Energy advisors and consultants: Must incorporate grid access risk as a critical variable in the due diligence of wind projects.
• Administration and Red Eléctrica (REE): The accumulation of withdrawals for this reason pressures to accelerate investments in transmission grid expansion.

Practical example

A Galician wind developer has a 50 MW project in its portfolio whose connection request points to the Abegondo 220 kV substation, the same one Greenalia tried to use for the Nordés farm without success. Faced with the resolution published on 20 October 2026, this developer must act immediately:

1. Verify with Red Eléctrica de España the current status of available capacity at Abegondo 220 kV.
2. Evaluate alternative substations in the area, assuming that Meirama 220 kV is also saturated according to the data from this file.
3. Calculate the cost of guarantee immobilization if the project is prolonged without access permission: at a scale of 5.824 million euros per 67.2 MW, the ratio is approximately €86,700 per MW in deposited guarantees.
4. Assess whether to continue development or file a withdrawal before accumulating more processing costs.

This exercise illustrates why the access and connection permit must be resolved before committing significant resources to the development of a wind farm.

What should companies do now?

1. Audit the status of the access and connection permit for all wind projects in the portfolio, especially in Galicia. Without this permit, prior administrative authorization cannot be obtained (art. 53.1.a Law 24/2013).
2. Review the situation of target substations: Meirama 220 kV and Abegondo 220 kV are confirmed as saturated according to this file. Identify alternatives before continuing to invest in development.
3. Calculate the opportunity cost of immobilized guarantees: at approximately €86,700 per MW (ratio from the Nordés case), large projects accumulate a real financial cost while waiting for connection.
4. Evaluate the de-accumulation of files: if you have projects grouped in the same file, the Nordés resolution shows that it is possible to de-accumulate them so that viable ones continue their processing independently.
5. Request the return of guarantees if a withdrawal has already been filed or will be filed, following the applicable procedure before the Directorate General for Energy Policy and Mines.
6. Incorporate grid access risk as a go/no-go criterion in the due diligence phase of new projects, before committing development budget.

Official source

Consult complete regulation at official source

Notice: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. For specific decisions, consult a qualified professional. Source: https://www.boe.es/diario_boe/txt.php?id=BOE-A-2026-21859