Spain, along with Portugal, has gone on to ask the European Union to step in so as to push for more power interconnectors with France post a massive Iberian Peninsula power outage in April 2025.
It is well to be noted that Spain and Portugal have gone on to limit power linkages to the rest of Europe and have said that France has held up new interconnection projects, which, according to them, could help prevent any kind of disruption such as the unprecedented Iberian Peninsula power outage.
Works in order to strengthen any present interconnector between France and Spain are anticipated to wrap up in 2025. Apparently, there is a new underwater powerline spanning the Bay of Biscay, which is also set to get accomplished by 2028.
In the letter, which was drafted to Dan Jorgensen, the EU energy commissioner, governments from Spain and Portugal have urged Brussels to step in and make sure that the new interconnection projects move forward.
As per the letter, a firm political as well as financial commitment is required at all levels so as to make sure of a swift and efficient integration of the Iberian Peninsula within the EU energy system.
The letter also stated that Spain and Portugal propose a ministerial meeting in 2025, where, along with France and the commission, they can agree on a roadmap with certain milestones in addition to the steps that need to be taken.
The European Commission spokesperson has confirmed that it had received this letter and was in touch with both the governments.
RTE, which happens to be the French grid operator, has also studied the feasibility of building a couple of additional interconnections along with Spain over the Pyrenees in the multi-annual planning document, which was published in the first half of 2025.
The planning report of the RTE said that it would anticipate the EUÂ to go ahead and contribute financing of any such kind of upgrades, given the objectives would be Progressive Interconnection to Spain as well as the beneficiaries being located outside of France.
It is well to be noted that France produces most of its power that’s derived from nuclear plants, whereas Iberia makes use of a bigger share of renewable sources whose fluctuating generation throttles the requirement for flexibility within the power grid.
Apparently, Iberia lags far below the targets of the EU for countries in order to connect 15% of the electricity capacity to their neighboring countries by the end of the decade. The share of Iberia has stuck at only 3%.
Spain, along with Portugal, has also argued that this is indeed driving up the prices and also hampering their power grid’s capacity to respond to the disruptions. Interconnectors can enable stabilization of the energy grids by way of helping the power to flow between countries and respond in a swift way to supply as well as demand fluctuations.
The letter further states that speeding up the competition of electricity interconnections along the Iberian Peninsula has to be placed among the highest priorities.
It is well to be noted that the power outages of the magnitude that have been witnessed in Spain and Portugal in April are very rare in Europe. The blackout apparently caused phenomenal disruption, grounded planes, and also forced hospitals to suspend their routine operations. The EU is indeed investigating its cause.
It can now be confirmed that both the energy ministries of Spain and Portugal have signed the letter.
