Brussels, 05/03/2015 (Agence Europe) - During a summit on interconnections in Madrid on Wednesday 4 March, the European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, President of France François Hollande, Prime Minister of Spain Mariano Rajoy and the Prime Minister of Portugal Pedro Passos Coelho agreed on ways to strengthen connections between the Iberian Peninsula and the rest of the EU energy market.
The new High-Level Group for South-West Europe, which will deal with both gas and electricity infrastructure, will drive identification and implementation of key infrastructure projects and ensure regular monitoring. To support the work of the High Level Group, the Commission has launched a study on the benefits, costs and the technical options for further electricity interconnections between the Iberian Peninsula and the rest of Europe. The first results of the study will be available mid-April 2015. A similar study on gas interconnections will follow shortly.
President Jean-Claude Juncker said: “We have agreed today on the first concrete deliverables of the European Energy Union. Today we have initiated a unique process of regional convergence on energy and that I would like to see more and more across Europe”. The Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy Miguel Arias Cañete and the President of the European Investment Bank Werner Hoyer also attended the meeting, with the former announcing, “Today marks a crucial step towards ending the isolation of the Iberian Peninsula from the rest of the internal energy market”.
One of the envisaged projects to be submitted to the Commission for EU funding includes one from Spain, France and Portugal. This would involve a project for a sub sea electricity cable through the Bay of Biscay, to the cost of an estimated €1.9 billion. This connection will help to double the exchange capacity between France and Spain from 1400 to 2800 MW, with the new interconnection line between Santa Llogaia and Baixàs, which was inaugurated on 20 February (see EUROPE 11258).
The three countries will also submit two electricity interconnection projects to the Commission. According to an announcement made by Hollande on Wednesday, these projects will involve cables buried underground in the Pyrenees, which will help prevent environmental damage. The summit also decided to assess the feasibility of a gas pipeline project in six months' time which links Catalonia to the south of France, the MidCat. (Emmanuel Hagry)