To guarantee the security of the system, Red Eléctrica requires real-time communication with the generating stations, enabling it to know at all times their conditions and variables of operation and to issue the necessary instructions relating to production conditions in order for them to be duly fulfilled by these stations.
Due to the high number of generators present in the Spanish electrical system, secure and efficient communication between Red Eléctrica and the generating stations requires the integration or affiliation of the latter with generation control centres, whether dedicated to special regime generators or another type. The generation control centres must not only have sufficient capacity of control, command and monitoring over the generators assigned to them but also a suitable connection with Red Eléctrica's control centres and the appropriate skills level of its human resources to guarantee secure liaison with Red Eléctrica and its operation, 24 hours a day and 365 days a year.
These requirements, of a general nature for all of the generation infrastructure, are contained in the operational procedures P.O. 9 and P.O. 8.2 (generation equal to or greater than 10 MW per power plant or group of power plants connected to the same point of the network). In addition, given the particular relevance of control for special regime generation due to the number of facilities involved, Royal Decree 1454/2005 
established this requirement, which is ratified by Royal Decree 661/2007 and which must be fulfilled by the generators.
In June 2006, Red Eléctrica, as operator of the power system, started up a control centre of renewable energies (CECRE), a worldwide pioneering initiative to monitor and control these energy resources. Cecre is an operating unit integrated into the Power Control Centre (CECOEL). The generation of the renewable energy producers, which have been set up in our country are managed and controlled by Cecre. In addition, this centre is the sole interlocutor in real time between Cecoel and each one of the authorised generation control centres, to which the wind farms are connected.
Under this scheme, the generation control centre to which an electrical energy production facility is assigned acts as its Generation Control Centre and interlocutor with Red Eléctrica. To this purpose, every generation control centre must be connected with the Red Eléctrica control centres and have been previously approved by Red Eléctrica.
Red Eléctrica will issue the corresponding qualification certificates of generation control centres.