- The day electricity also started hanging up the “sold out” signPosted by Eva Linares on Linked
- In on March 10, 2026,
- Why Anticipating Electricity Capacity Is Becoming StrategicThere’s a very common situation when you’re traveling by car and decide not to book a hotel.
You want to keep the freedom to choose as you go, so you drive along calmly, thinking that when the time comes, you’ll find a room without any trouble.
No es temporada alta. No hay congresos. Hay docenas de hoteles.
So you book late. Or even on the same day.
And when you arrive in the city… everything is fully booked.
If you’re the type who plans ahead, this has probably never happened to you.
But if you’ve ever planned a trip on the fly, you know the feeling: stress, uncertainty, and the uncomfortable question of what to do next.
Algo parecido está empezando a ocurrir con la electricidad.
And the same goes for energy cost optimization.
- La energía se está convirtiendo en una cuestión de acceso, no solo de precios
Durante años, el debate sobre la energía en las empresas ha girado en torno a una pregunta:
«¿A qué precio compramos la energía?»
But now another question is beginning to emerge—one that until recently seemed unlikely:
«¿Habrá capacidad para conectarnos cuando lo necesitemos?»
According to data published by Red Eléctrica, only 25% of the connection points in the transmission grid currently have available capacity for new demand.
In other words: three out of every four “outlets” on the grid are already saturated.
Y esto no solo afecta a los nuevos sectores.
It affects expansions, new production facilities, data centers, and urban development projects.
And, of course, it can also affect your company.
- A problem that almost no one seesWhen it starts to get overloaded, you don’t notice it.
When it’s overloaded, you don’t notice it.
There are no visible traffic jams.
No hay semáforos en rojo.
There is no clear sign that the system is reaching its limit.
Y, sin embargo, el impacto puede ser enorme.
You surely remember last year’s massive blackout; it came without warning and faded from our memory. No one saw it coming.
According to energy analysts themselves, a collapsed grid can delay the establishment of new industries or strategic investments for years.
En otras palabras: el problema no aparece en la factura.
It shows up when your company wants to grow.
- When energy ceases to be a purchasing itemIn many executive committees, energy is still treated as a purchasing department item.
The price is negotiated, the contract is signed, and the matter is filed away as “resolved.”
But when the infrastructure starts to reach capacity, that approach is no longer enough.
Because it’s no longer just about how much energy costs.
Because it’s no longer just about how much energy costs.
It’s about whether you’ll be able to access it when your business needs it.
Y, en ese momento, la energía deja de ser un problema operativo.
Se convierte en una decisión estratégica.
- Cuando todos quieren la misma habitación
The problem isn’t that there’s a shortage of electricity.
De hecho, España está batiendo récords en la generación de energía renovable.
The real problem is something else: while more and more energy is being produced, the grid that must transport it isn’t growing at the same pace.
By 2024, around 8% of the renewable energy generated was already being wasted, and by 2025 that figure had doubled.
Meanwhile, new industries wait years to get connected—that plug they need to start operating.
Es como una ciudad llena de hoteles… pero con muy pocas habitaciones disponibles.
- The difference between planning ahead and being late to the partyWhen you travel to a city hosting a major event, there are two types of travelers.
Los que reservan con meses de antelación.
And those who arrive thinking that, somehow, they’ll find something.
In the energy sector, unfortunately, there are still many companies that operate like those second types of travelers.
Companies that anticipate what they will need in the future—whether new plants, expansions, or process electrification—have a better chance of securing that desired connection.
Those who wait until the last minute face a problem that has nothing to do with price.
Depende de la capacidad disponible en la red eléctrica.
- The questions a CEO should start asking themselves
If your company relies on electricity to grow, run processes, or expand production, you might want to start asking yourself some questions:
- ¿Contamos con la capacidad eléctrica necesaria para nuestros planes de crecimiento?
- ¿Estamos previendo las necesidades de conexión con un margen suficiente?
- Are we treating energy as an operational risk or just as a purchase?
- ¿Sabemos cómo afectaría a nuestro negocio un retraso de dos o tres años en una nueva conexión?
- Porque hay algo que debe quedar claro:
- the power grid is not an unlimited resource.
- The problem isn’t paying more for electricity.The strategic mistake rarely lies in paying a few cents more per kilowatt-hour.
The real mistake is usually realizing too late that there is no available capacity when your company needs to grow.
Y entonces el problema ya no es el precio.
The problem is that there’s no outlet.
And at that point, there’s nothing left to do but wait for capacity to become available on the network.
Algo que puede llevar años.
- Traveling with a reservation or relying on luck
At this point, I’m sure your company doesn’t want to rely on luck.
Companies that plan their grid access in advance have room to make decisions.
Aquellos que no dependen únicamente de la disponibilidad del sistema.
Porque una cosa es controlar los gastos.
Y gestionar la incertidumbre es otra cosa muy distinta.
If you want to analyze your company’s exposure to this problem and explore options for anticipating it, we can review it together.
Because in the energy sector, getting there first often makes all the difference.
Gracias por leernos una semana más.
Have a great day.
