Latest news with #interconnector
Yahoo
16-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
EIB backs Spain-France power link with 1.6 billion euros
By Kate Abnett LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) -The European Investment Bank will back a planned power interconnector between Spain and France with an investment of 1.6 billion euros ($1.84 billion), it said on Monday, after Spain and Portugal's governments sought EU help to improve their power links following a huge blackout in April. Spain and Portugal's poor electricity connections to the rest of Europe were thrown into the spotlight by the countries' unprecedented power outage, which experts and officials said could have been less severe if the Iberian Peninsula had more interconnectors to exchange power with other countries. The EIB, the European Union's lending arm, said it would support the Bay of Biscay interconnector via loans to Spain and France's power system operators, Red Electrica and RTE, who aim to launch the 400-kilometre project in 2028. The subsea link would increase the amount of power that France and Spain can exchange, from 2.8 gigawatts to 5 gigawatts. "EIB support for the France-Spain electricity interconnection will be key to ensuring that the Iberian Peninsula is no longer an energy island," EIB Group President Nadia Calvino said in a statement. The causes of the Iberian outage are still being investigated. Following the blackout, Spain and Portugal's governments asked the EU last month to step in to ensure new interconnection projects with France move ahead, a letter previously reported by Reuters showed. Works to strengthen an existing interconnector between France and Spain are expected to wrap this year. France's RTE has also assessed two additional interconnections with Spain over the Pyrenees, but noted that the projects' beneficiaries would be located outside of France. Thomas Veyrenc, board member at France's RTE, said on Monday that the Bay of Biscay project would increase the solidarity between France and Spain. Beatriz Corredor, chair of Red Electrica's parent company, Redeia, said the countries should also press ahead with the planned interconnections through the Pyrenees. Iberia has just 3% of its electricity capacity connected to neighbouring countries, far below the EU's target for countries to reach 15% by 2030. ($1 = 0.8675 euro)
Reuters
16-06-2025
- Business
- Reuters
EIB backs Spain-France power link with 1.6 billion euros
LUXEMBOURG, June 16 (Reuters) - The European Investment Bank will back a planned power interconnector between Spain and France with an investment of 1.6 billion euros ($1.84 billion), it said on Monday, after Spain and Portugal's governments sought EU help to improve their power links following a huge blackout in April. Spain and Portugal's poor electricity connections to the rest of Europe were thrown into the spotlight by the countries' unprecedented power outage, which experts and officials said could have been less severe if the Iberian Peninsula had more interconnectors to exchange power with other countries. The EIB, the European Union's lending arm, said it would support the Bay of Biscay interconnector via loans to Spain and France's power system operators, Red Electrica and RTE, who aim to launch the 400-kilometre project in 2028. The subsea link would increase the amount of power that France and Spain can exchange, from 2.8 gigawatts to 5 gigawatts. "EIB support for the France-Spain electricity interconnection will be key to ensuring that the Iberian Peninsula is no longer an energy island," EIB Group President Nadia Calvino said in a statement. The causes of the Iberian outage are still being investigated. Following the blackout, Spain and Portugal's governments asked the EU last month to step in to ensure new interconnection projects with France move ahead, a letter previously reported by Reuters showed. Works to strengthen an existing interconnector between France and Spain are expected to wrap this year. France's RTE has also assessed two additional interconnections with Spain over the Pyrenees, but noted that the projects' beneficiaries would be located outside of France. Thomas Veyrenc, board member at France's RTE, said on Monday that the Bay of Biscay project would increase the solidarity between France and Spain. Beatriz Corredor, chair of Red Electrica's parent company, Redeia ( opens new tab, said the countries should also press ahead with the planned interconnections through the Pyrenees. Iberia has just 3% of its electricity capacity connected to neighbouring countries, far below the EU's target for countries to reach 15% by 2030. ($1 = 0.8675 euro)
Bloomberg
21-05-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Spain, Portugal Urge EU Effort on Power Link After Blackout
Spain and Portugal have called on the European Union to accelerate the completion of a cross-border power connection with the Iberian Peninsula after a recent blackout highlighted risks for the region's electricity supply. A planned interconnector with France must be 'urgently completed,' Spanish Energy Minister Sara Aagesen Munoz and her Portuguese counterpart Maria da Graca Carvalho wrote in a letter to EU energy chief Dan Jorgensen. The link operates at just 3% capacity, well below its planned 15% target for 2030, posing a systemic risk to the overall European energy system, they said.
Reuters
19-05-2025
- Business
- Reuters
France-UK electrical interconnector suspended until June 2, Channel tunnel operator says
May 19 (Reuters) - The electrical interconnector between France and Britain, ElecLink, will be suspended for two weeks until June 2 due to a slight misalignment of the cable, Channel tunnel operator Getlink ( opens new tab said on Monday. The issue was detected in a limited area outside the tunnel in Britain, Getlink said in a statement, estimating the commercial impact of the suspension would be around 20 million euros ($22.4 million). Operations at ElecLink, an underwater cable ensuring 1 gigawatt of electric capacity through the tunnel since 2022, had already been shut down last year after a fault was found in September. The interconnector was brought back into service in February. The current suspension has been implemented as a "precautionary measure" to carry out all necessary inspections and tests, Getlink said. It had signalled a 69% year-on-year drop in quarterly revenue for ElecLink in April, owing to the five-month suspension of activity and the normalisation of energy markets. ($1 = 0.8945 euros)
BreakingNews.ie
13-05-2025
- Business
- BreakingNews.ie
Speaker tells minister to offer ‘facts not opinions' when addressing Assembly
Stormont's speaker has cautioned a Sinn Féin minister against voicing policy opinions that contradict the official stance of her department. Edwin Poots accused Economy minister Caoimhe Archibald of making inappropriate comments in the chamber after she told MLAs she was supportive of the underground routing of cables required for the planned electricity interconnector linking the power grids in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Advertisement SDLP leader of the opposition, Matthew O'Toole, challenged the minister on her comments, highlighting that planning approval for the Northern Ireland section of the interconnector was granted on the basis of the cables being routed on overhead pylons. He said the Department for the Economy was a 'key delivery partner' for the project in its current form. Economy minister Caoimhe Archibald (Liam McBurney/PA) 'Are you saying one thing while your department is delivering another?' he asked. Ms Archibald earlier told MLAs that she voiced support for undergrounding the cables during a meeting with her counterpart in the Irish government, Transport, Climate, Environment and Energy minister Darragh O'Brien. Advertisement Responding to Mr O'Toole, Ms Archibald added: 'I don't agree with the member in respect of my comments, because I think I've been consistent in respect of my party's position, and the party has been consistent in respect of that position (undergrounding of cables), which would help secure community buy-in. 'And I think in respect of the planning permission (that) was granted by the previous Infrastructure minister (Nichola Mallon) who was your party colleague, and, as ministers in the Executive, we are obliged to fulfil the commitments in respect of that planning consent.' After Assembly question time concluded, Mr O'Toole raised Ms Archibald's comments with the Speaker. Responding, Mr Poots said it was important for ministers to deal with 'facts, not opinions'. Advertisement 'A minister may have an opinion, and if they think that opinion is important enough and they run the department, then it is up to them to change the position on the department,' he said. 'But it is a minister's task to come to the floor of the chamber and to represent the department's policies as they exist, and that's why I did indicate that we're here to hear facts, not to hear opinions. 'And if the minister wishes to change the position that the Department for the Economy has on whether the interconnector is underground or overground, then that's a matter for the minister. 'But she shouldn't be coming to the chamber and saying this is the department's position, this is my position. I don't think that that's appropriate.' Advertisement
