What are Certificados de Ahorro Energetico?
Certificados de Ahorro Energetico (CAE) are certificates that attest to the completion of energy saving and energy efficiency actions in Spain. They were created by Real Decreto 36/2023, of 24 January, which transposes the Directiva Europea de Eficiencia Energetica (DEE) into Spanish law.
Each CAE represents 1 kWh of final energy saved per year. The certificate has an administrative validity of 3 years (article 6 of RD 36/2023), but only one year of savings is counted, not cumulative savings.
The stakeholders of the system
The CAE system involves three main types of stakeholders:
- Obligated parties: energy retailers and distributors with a saving obligation. They are the ones who must acquire CAE to meet their annual targets.
- Delegated subjects: companies accredited by the MITECO that carry out saving actions on behalf of obligated parties. They are the ones who use tools such as CertificAhorro.
- ENAC verifiers: bodies accredited by ENAC that verify the conformity of actions before the MITECO issues the CAE.
The certification process step by step
- Identification of the action: the delegated subject identifies an eligible action according to the catalogue of standardised datasheets.
- Calculation of the saving: the formula of the relevant datasheet is applied to calculate the saving in MWh/year.
- Building the file: the supporting documentation (D1 to D5) is gathered in accordance with the datasheet.
- ENAC verification: an accredited verifier reviews the file and issues its report.
- Issuance by the MITECO: the ministry issues the CAE for the certified quantity.
- Settlement: the delegated subject transfers the CAE to the obligated party, which presents them to the MITECO.
Key figures 2025
- Total obligation 2025: 4.942 GWh of final energy saving
- Market price: 50 to 150 EUR/MWh
- Accredited delegated subjects: 46 (January 2025)
- Available standardised datasheets: 114 (July 2024 catalogue)
- Annual market potential: ~600 M EUR
The datasheet catalogue (Orden TED/845/2023)
Orden TED/845/2023, of 18 July, establishes the catalogue of standardised actions. Each datasheet describes:
- The scope of application and the eligible equipment
- The calculation parameters and their reference values
- The formula for calculating the energy saving
- The required supporting documentation
The most widely used datasheets in 2025 are IND050 (industrial LED lighting), IND240 (variable speed drives), TER030 (tertiary LED) and TER040 (heat pumps for air conditioning).
Why use a specialised tool?
Managing CAE files manually (with Excel and emails) leads to calculation errors, lost documentation and verification delays. A SaaS platform such as CertificAhorro automates calculations in accordance with Orden TED/845/2023, centralises documentation and generates files ready for the verifier.