In recent weeks, rising tension in the Middle East has once again placed energy at the centre of global concerns. News of attacks, blockades of strategic routes and security alerts around ports and shipping corridors has had an immediate effect on the markets: higher volatility, uncertainty over supply and nervousness among the major buyers of oil and gas.
We are facing a scenario that is a reminder of just how dependent our economies remain on geopolitically fragile regions. Spain, despite its progress in renewables and diversification, is no exception. It is in this context that the Government has approved RDL 7/2026 of 20 March (Royal Decree-Law), which activates a Comprehensive Response Plan for the Middle East Crisis. BOE-A-2026-6544 Real Decreto-ley 7/2026, de 20 de marzo, por el que se aprueba el Plan Integral de Respuesta a la Crisis en Oriente Medio. (Royal Decree-Law 7/2026 of 20 March, approving the Comprehensive Response Plan to the Middle East Crisis)
The aim of RDL 7/2026 is to prevent the current wave of uncertainty from turning into serious supply problems, into unbearable increases in energy costs and, ultimately, into a brake on the competitiveness of companies and the wellbeing of households. It is not only an energy emergency mechanism, but a tool to protect costs, guarantee stability and accelerate structural change in the energy model.
What is happening in the energy markets
To understand the purpose of the legislation, we first need to look at what has happened in recent weeks. Several shipping routes carrying hydrocarbons and energy products have been blocked, journeys have been diverted and transit times have lengthened. This translates immediately into logistics costs and, above all, into a perception of risk.
It is this perception of risk that makes prices swing. Oil and gas futures markets have seen sessions of sudden rises and sharp corrections, with a level of volatility that makes purchasing planning very difficult for industrial companies and energy retailers. At the same time, Europe, in the midst of a demanding energy transition, sees its priorities multiplying: it must decarbonise, but it must also guarantee supply in a world where geopolitical tensions are becoming the norm.
In this scenario, RDL 7/2026 is intended to act as a “cushion” and, at the same time, as an accelerator of measures that had been on the table for some time.
RDL 7/2026: what this Comprehensive Response Plan aims to do
Although RDL 7/2026 is framed as an emergency response, it includes very specific measures that directly affect day-to-day business, particularly in a country where energy costs remain a critical competitiveness factor.
1. Making energy contracts more flexible so that companies can breathe
This is one of the most relevant measures for industrial SMEs. Until 31 December 2026, companies may:
- modify contracted electricity capacity at no cost,
- adjust gas flow rates and toll bands,
- and even temporarily suspend gas contracts without penalties or interruption of supply.
This gives crucial room for manoeuvre to companies that need to adapt consumption to prices or to production demand. In normal years, changes of this kind carry significant costs or restrictions; RDL 7/2026 makes them fully flexible.
2. Reduce energy taxes to contain costs
The impact of the crisis is not only operational but also economic. That is why RDL 7/2026 includes a substantial temporary cut in energy taxation:
- VAT reduced to 10% on electricity, gas, biomass and fuels,
- Special Tax on Electricity at 0.5%,
- reduction of the Hydrocarbons Tax to the European minimum rates.
It is immediate relief for companies with high consumption and for SMEs exposed to volatility.
3. Specific support for electro-intensive industry
To prevent relocations and job losses, RDL 7/2026 establishes:
- an 80% discount on electricity network charges for certified electro-intensive companies.
This measure is particularly important for sectors such as metals, paper, chemicals, fertilisers or materials manufacturing, where electricity cost is decisive and international competition is fierce.
4. Accelerating self-consumption, renewables and flexibility
The crisis is also an opportunity to reduce structural vulnerability. RDL 7/2026 promotes:
- extension of self-consumption up to 5 km in distance,
- a new role of self-consumption manager,
- priority for local energy communities,
- simplified procedures for deploying renewables,
- definition of Renewables Acceleration Areas (ZAR) with clear environmental and territorial criteria,
- promotion of repowering and energy storage.
All of this points towards a more distributed, more local energy model, less exposed to external crises.
5. Energy governance: bringing order to grid access
Another important pillar is preventing speculation in connection permits and prioritising projects that genuinely add value to the territory and to industry. RDL 7/2026 introduces:
- a capacity reservation charge (to prevent “hunting” megawatts with no real project),
- linking the access permit to the CNAE code of the company's actual activity,
- a fast track for strategic industrial projects,
- strict sustainability requirements for data centres, which will have to match new demand with equivalent renewable generation.
6. Additional measures for exposed sectors
The Plan also includes:
- direct aid for cancelled international activity (ICEX),
- financial support for road and maritime hauliers,
- new ICO‑MAPA‑SAECA credit lines for the agri-food and fisheries sectors,
- a boost to the Industrial Decarbonisation Fund to protect long-term contracts and green investments. Decarbonisation is not only sustainability it is opportunity and Decarbonisation plans, the path to business competitiveness | auma
These measures not only mitigate the price crisis, they also facilitate investments that improve resilience.
RDL 7/2026: what it means for a company and/or SME
For many companies, these government moves may seem distant, almost macroeconomic. But the reality is that the substance of the message speaks to them directly: energy uncertainty is here to stay, and it must be built into the management of the business.
First, because price volatility may well remain a constant. This calls for rethinking how energy is purchased, how much flexibility production has to adapt to time bands or tariffs, and what capacity there is to reduce consumption at moments of stress.
Second, because efficiency ceases to be merely a matter of savings and becomes an element of resilience. Companies that have already made progress in energy audits, thermal process optimisation, equipment modernisation and self-consumption are better placed to withstand external shocks. Those that have not are exposed to greater vulnerability.
And third, because energy risk moves squarely onto the ESG agenda. The CSRD ,Omnibus Agreement changes to the CSRD, the CS3D and the ESRS the CSDDD CSDDD and SMEs: what they will have to demonstrate in the value chain and other European rules emphasise the need to identify, manage and report energy-related risks, from both an environmental and a governance standpoint. This will increasingly translate into requests for information from large clients and financial institutions directed at supplier SMEs.
How the business community can respond
In this context, the recommendation is clear: do not wait for the next energy crisis to catch the company unprepared. Now is the time to make energy a strategic axis.
That means a well-designed energy audit, one that does not simply tick regulatory boxes but makes it possible to understand where, how and why energy is consumed, which points are critical and where there is real room for improvement. It also means examining self-consumption and demand flexibility options, assessing monitoring technologies and establishing indicators that help management take informed decisions.
In parallel, energy risk needs to start being integrated into the company's ESG framework: identifying it, documenting it and explaining what measures are being taken to manage it.
auma's role in this scenario
At auma, this new RDL 7/2026 is read not merely as a reaction to a specific crisis, but as confirmation that energy resilience will be a key competitiveness factor. We support companies and SMEs along this path: from the energy diagnosis and the definition of action plans, to the integration of energy into ESG strategy, by way of identifying opportunities in efficiency, self-consumption and process optimisation.
Geopolitical crises cannot be controlled. The response a company gives to them can.