Spain's Servicio de Respuesta Activa de la Demanda (SRAD) is an operating balancing service, not a general label for every load-control project. The current P.O. 7.5 defines who participates, how capacity is auctioned, how Red Eléctrica activates programming units and how availability and delivered energy are checked.
Royal Decree 88/2026 separately created the legal framework for an independent aggregator. That framework matters to future participation, but it does not make a draft baseline method operative. A sound 2026 project must identify which rules are final, which market party owns each obligation and which data Red Eléctrica uses for verification and settlement.
The current SRAD procedure
The CNMC resolution of 6 November 2025 approved revised P.O. 7.5 and related changes to P.O. 14.4. The provisions apply to SRAD delivery from 1 January 2026.
P.O. 7.5 defines SRAD as a specific balancing product for the Spanish peninsular electricity system. Red Eléctrica activates it when available upward tertiary-regulation reserve is below the required amount. It is therefore distinct from tariff peak shaving, a distribution-network flexibility contract and an owner's emergency load-shedding scheme.
The service is an upward active-power variation: the programming unit reduces demand. The product must be delivered within 12.5 minutes of the activation instruction and can be maintained for up to two consecutive hours in one day.
Capacity is procured by auction and paid at the marginal price from the allocation process. The normal service periods are six months, from 1 January to 30 June and from 1 July to 31 December. Red Eléctrica may change the delivery periods or number of auctions after communicating the change and obtaining CNMC authorisation.
Participation is organised through market units
The parties and technical objects have different responsibilities.
| Role or object | Responsibility under P.O. 7.5 | Project evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Red Eléctrica as system operator | Publishes the requirement, runs the allocation, activates the service and verifies availability and delivery | Published auction terms, qualification result, activation and settlement records |
| Market participant and balancing service provider | Qualifies the relevant units, submits offers and carries the market obligations for the awarded service | Contracts, unit identities, offers, acknowledgements and market communications |
| Programming unit | Receives the activation as one market-facing unit and holds the awarded capacity | Programming-unit code, awarded MW, member physical units and current configuration |
| Physical unit | Represents the demand installation or permitted aggregation beneath the programming unit | CUPS, contracted power, control centre, real-time points and operating limits |
| Site owner or operator | Keeps the process and equipment within connection, safety and production limits | Local measurements, interlocks, override state and approved operating plan |
Each programming unit and each physical unit within it exchanges real-time information with Red Eléctrica through an authorised Generation and Demand Control Centre, or CCGD. P.O. 7.5 requires the applicable telemetry from every physical unit and, in all cases, active power as a real value with a quality bit.
The programming unit also needs an activation-instruction signal and a receipt-confirmation signal. The confirmation returns the same binary value as the instruction: 1 for activation and 0 for deactivation. These are market control-centre signals. A local gateway's receipt log is useful supporting evidence but is not automatically the CCGD exchange required by the procedure.
Aggregation does not remove unit requirements
P.O. 7.5 allows the minimum 1 MW offer to be reached by combining demand installations. A physical unit may be a demand installation with contracted power above 1 MW or a single aggregation of installations whose contracted power is at most 1 MW each and totals at least 0.1 MW, subject to the procedure's complete conditions.
For delivery periods in 2026, the procedure keeps offer and transfer values in whole megawatts. For 2027 and later delivery periods it provides for one decimal place, corresponding to 100 kW, after the necessary developments. Do not represent 100 kW bidding as available for a 2026 delivery period.
Before procurement, obtain the current qualification guide and auction specification from Red Eléctrica. The operating procedure defines the durable framework, while the auction documents identify dates, capacity requirement and the exact submission process for the relevant service period.
Activation is a recorded control-centre event
Red Eléctrica activates SRAD by programming unit using rotating turns. The instruction travels to the CCGD over the required communications link. From transmission of the instruction, the programming unit has 12.5 minutes to execute the awarded power reduction.
P.O. 7.5 calculates the activation start from that 12.5-minute boundary and rounds it to the start of the next minute, except when the instruction is sent at second 00. Preserve the original send timestamp, the calculated official start, receipt confirmation and local response time. A rounded market boundary should never overwrite the source event time.
During activation the programming unit must not change its consumption schedule. Associated generation or storage must maintain its immediately preceding programme. Red Eléctrica also checks that an activated demand unit does not create the apparent response by reducing associated generation, reducing storage production or increasing storage consumption.
This boundary is crucial for a hybrid site. A drop in grid import is not by itself proof of qualifying demand reduction. The evidence must show what the demand did and that generation or storage did not manufacture the apparent response contrary to the procedure.
Availability and activation are checked differently
Red Eléctrica verifies both capacity availability and delivery after activation.
For hourly availability, the system operator checks whether the programming unit had the awarded upward active-power capability. The unavailable power is based on the hourly average difference between awarded power and the unit's measured consumption, accounting for an activation where applicable. P.O. 14.4 governs the associated calculation and payment obligation.
For activation, Red Eléctrica uses active-power telemetry registered in its real-time energy-control system together with energy-meter records. Delivery is assessed for energy raised to power-station busbars. P.O. 14.4 supplies the detailed settlement calculation and applicable loss treatment.
Keep these records separate:
- Award and availability. Service period, awarded MW, applicable hours, unit configuration and hourly availability result.
- Activation. Instruction value, send time, acknowledgement, official start, end and required reduction.
- Operational response. Boundary power, asset state, local command, constraint, quality and source timestamp.
- Official measurement. Real-time telemetry received by Red Eléctrica and the applicable energy-meter record.
- Settlement. Accepted delivery, non-delivery, prices, adjustments and final market result.
An owner-side record helps diagnose the event. It does not become the official measurement merely because its values are close.
Quarter-hour settlement has a bounded telemetry fallback
Activated SRAD energy is valued for each quarter-hour programming period at the maximum marginal price of scheduled and direct upward tertiary-regulation allocation in that period. Red Eléctrica verifies the energy supplied under P.O. 14.4.
Where quarter-hour energy-meter data is not yet available for settlement, the procedure says the measurement is calculated as the integral of real-time active-power telemetry over the corresponding quarter-hour programming period. This is an explicit transitional measurement route inside the official process. It is not permission to integrate any convenient site trend.
P.O. 7.5 also provides a route for the market participant to challenge the published telemetry integral by submitting a measurement incident under the applicable metering procedure. Retain raw values, quality flags, clock state and transformations so the participant can investigate a discrepancy without rewriting history.
Independent aggregation is a separate implementation track
Royal Decree 88/2026 permits a consumer to contract an independent aggregator without the supplier's consent. Its transitional model is centralised, with programme correction and compensation. The system operator determines balance responsibility and verifies the independent aggregator's response.
The decree requires later instruments to establish the reference-programme methodology, compensation price and compensation arrangement. MITECO published a proposed resolution for consultation from 14 August to 3 September 2026. As at 6 October 2026, no final resolution was identified in the cited official sources.
The proposed method can inform consultation analysis, but it must not be put into a production specification as a current legal baseline. Before launching an independent-aggregator service, verify that the final resolution, adapted operating procedures and CNMC information-exchange files have been officially approved and have taken effect.
P.O. 7.5 and independent aggregation therefore answer different questions. P.O. 7.5 is the final current procedure for the SRAD product. Royal Decree 88/2026 establishes the independent-aggregator framework, while the detailed baseline and compensation implementation remained pending in the official record reviewed for this guide.
Build a defensible site evidence chain
Map the awarded programming unit to the site before enabling control.
| Layer | Minimum record | Boundary |
|---|---|---|
| Market | Participant, programming unit, physical unit, awarded MW and service period | Controlled by the BSP and Red Eléctrica process |
| Dispatch | Instruction, source timestamp, receipt confirmation, official start and release | CCGD path remains the required market interface |
| Site | Grid-boundary power, flexible-load power, generation, storage and constraint state | Used for operation and investigation |
| Time | Clock source, timezone, synchronisation state, source time and arrival time | Preserve quarter-hour alignment and original events |
| Quality | Validity bit, missing interval, substitution and transformation | Missing data must remain distinguishable from zero |
| Settlement | Official measurement, accepted response, adjustment and final result | Determined through the approved market process |
Test normal activation, delayed response, instruction loss, confirmation failure, invalid telemetry, meter substitution, partial delivery and controlled release. Use one system as the writer for each set point. Equipment protection, process limits and manual emergency controls remain authoritative.
Where EpiSensor fits
EpiSensor can measure site and asset power, collect equipment state and retain time-aligned operational records. Edge can record an approved local dispatch, receipt, acknowledgement, output state and measured response, and pass agreed data to a flexibility provider over a documented interface.
That supports site commissioning, availability checks and investigation of a failed activation. It does not act as the authorised CCGD, qualify a programming or physical unit, replace Red Eléctrica's real-time telemetry or energy-meter records, calculate the official settlement, or make a draft independent-aggregator baseline operative.
Use the operational and settlement metering guide to define the record boundary. Use System Builder to map measurement and control points after the BSP supplies the current SRAD qualification, communications and settlement requirements.
Common questions
Is P.O. 7.5 the current Spanish procedure for SRAD?
Yes. The CNMC resolution of 6 November 2025 approved the revised P.O. 7.5 for service delivery from 1 January 2026. It defines qualification, auctions, availability, activation, measurement and remuneration for SRAD in the Spanish peninsular system.
How quickly must an SRAD programming unit respond?
P.O. 7.5 gives the programming unit 12.5 minutes from transmission of the activation instruction to execute the awarded power reduction. The official start minute is calculated under the rounding rule in the procedure. A local controller may need to act sooner to deliver the complete response at that boundary.
Does a site's operational meter determine SRAD settlement?
No. Red Eléctrica checks activation using the active-power telemetry registered in its real-time energy-control system and energy-meter records. P.O. 14.4 governs the settlement calculation. Owner-side telemetry can explain site performance, but it does not replace the approved market records.
Can several smaller demand installations participate together?
The current procedure permits aggregation. For the 2026 delivery periods, offers and transfers remain in whole megawatts. The procedure says granularity evolves to 100 kW for 2027 and later delivery periods after the necessary developments. Each physical unit and programming unit must still meet the applicable qualification and real-time information requirements.
Is the 2026 draft independent-aggregator baseline already an operative rule?
No final instrument was identified in the official sources available on 6 October 2026. MITECO consulted on a proposed resolution from 14 August to 3 September 2026. Treat the proposed baseline, compensation price and new procedure as draft until a final resolution and effective operating procedures are officially published.