Spain is no longer an «electricity island» isolated from Europe. France’s traditional reluctance to promote interconnection with the Spanish grid is a thing of the past, and the continent is moving toward energy integration as a primary response to its excessive dependence on Russian gas supplies. The completion of the underground power interconnection with France from Figueras (Girona) will allow Spain to double its capacity to transfer electricity. Specifically, once the grid is fully operational this summer, the exchange capacity will increase from 1,400 to 2,800 megawatts. The underground interconnection, which has required an investment of 700 million euros from both countries, represents the most ambitious and expensive project in the history of Red Eléctrica Española (REE), which holds a 50% stake in the Inelfe consortium created with the French company RTE.
This 64-kilometer line connects the Catalan municipality of Santa Llogaia with Baixás, near Perpignan. It is the world’s longest interconnection line of its kind (direct current integrated into an alternating current grid), as there was previously only one similar line in San Francisco (U.S.), though that line had a capacity of 400 megawatts, compared to the 2,000 megawatts of the Spanish-French line.
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and French Prime Minister Manuel Valls will inaugurate today the 64.5-kilometer interconnection in the French town of Montesquieu-des-Alberès as a step toward creating a single electricity market within the world’s largest integrated power grid. Both Spain and France are in the midst of accelerating their interconnections to expand the European grid, which will ensure fewer problems and greater reliability and quality of service.
But in addition to doubling the transmission capacity, the infrastructure will improve the quality of the power supply for the communities in Roussillon and Empordà, and will ensure the electricity supply needed for the proper operation of the high-speed train on the Spanish side. In the future, the interconnection will also enable the use and consumption of electricity generated from renewable energy sources, primarily wind power. In recent years, Spain and France have committed to renewable energy, particularly wind power, thereby contributing to the EU’s 2020 energy goals—a 20% reduction in CO2 emissions, a 20% improvement in energy efficiency, and ensuring that 20% of energy consumption comes from renewable sources. However, since renewable energy generation is highly variable and geographically dispersed, it requires a high level of interconnection to provide flexibility to the system. As interconnection capacity increases, so does the total volume of renewable energy that the system can safely integrate. Hence the importance of continuing to expand interconnections.
Although the upcoming opening of the Figueras-Perpignan network represents a giant leap forward—increasing exchange capacity from 3% to 6%— we are still a long way from the 10% target set for 2020 and even further from the 15% that should be reached by 2030. For this reason, REE intends to accelerate as much as possible the 400-kilometer undersea interconnection across the Bay of Biscay, between the Basque Country and the French region of Aquitaine—a mega-project costing approximately 1.6 billion euros with an exchange capacity of about 2,000 megawatts. «We have to move very quickly on this project because it’s fraught with complications, and it’s the only option for reaching 5,000 megawatts of interconnection capacity by 2020—and even then, we wouldn’t reach the 10% target, which is still a long way off,» an REE executive told LA RAZÓN.
In fact, even with the Vizcaya line fully operational, there is no guarantee that the 9% interconnection with France will be achieved, which would delay not only the 2020 target but also the 2030 target, when the electricity exchange rate is expected to reach 15%. «That’s why we’re making progress in measuring sand movements in the Bay of Biscay, because the longer we delay, the greater our disadvantage will be compared to the rest of Europe,» the source adds.
To date, only three countries had an interconnection ratio as low as Spain’s—below 5%. Two of them were islands (the United Kingdom and Iceland). The other was Poland. According to the 2020 targets, only Iceland will lag behind Spain, as both Poland and the United Kingdom will reach 15%. This disadvantage translates into higher costs for consumers, as they lack access to the European grid, which is nine times larger than the peninsular grid.
