- The new project does not require the construction of a new substation as it contemplates the enlargement, using GIS technology (housed indoors), of the substation that already exists in an industrial area of San Roque.
- This alternative eliminates the need for the overhead line which would have crossed through the municipalities of San Roque and La Línea, therefore, the entire line route will now be underground, minimising its environmental impact.
- The new project is an important boost for the electricity interconnection of the Spanish mainland with Ceuta, a strategic project for Spain that is included in the electricity planning approved by the Spanish Government.
Red Eléctrica de España, the company responsible for the operation and transmission of electricity in Spain, has today analysed jointly with the town councils of La Línea de la Concepción and San Roque a new proposal to connect the interconnection cable that will link the Spanish mainland with the Autonomous City of Ceuta through an existing substation located in the municipality of San Roque, thereby eliminating the need to build a new substation.
In this way, the Company responds to the demands made by both municipalities: on the one hand, it eliminates the need to build the Portichuelos substation in the municipality of La Línea and, on the other, it eliminates the overhead line initially included in the project and which would have crossed through the municipal areas of San Roque and La Línea de la Concepción. The interconnection project now includes the construction of lines that are entirely underground for the connection to the existing Algeciras-Pinar del Rey line and thus significantly reduce visual impact overhead lines would have had.
The proposal involves enlarging the existing Algeciras 220 kV electricity substation. The current substation, which is located in an industrial area of San Roque and has AIS technology housed in a building, will incorporate an indoor 132 kV GIS installation, which will reduce by four the space initially considered in the original project and contribute to reducing the visual impact.
Additionally, a change is planned in the route of the underground line that initially was going to run alongside country roads in the municipality of La Línea, to now run along consolidated urban roads, eliminating its environmental impact and without any impact on the urban development of the municipal area.
A team of experts from Red Eléctrica, headed by the Director of Licences and Environmental Management Area, Luis Velasco, the Company’s delegate in the Southern Area, Jorge Jiménez, and the Project Manager, Sara Fernández de Sevilla, presented the new proposal to the local council teams from San Roque and La Línea in order to continue advancing the dialogue with both municipalities with the aim of reaching the best solution based on consensus.
This infrastructure represents part of the development that the future interconnection between the Spanish mainland and Ceuta will entail, a strategic project for Spain that has been included in the 2015-2020 electricity planning, as well as in the proposed 2021-2026 electricity planning, a document that sets out the State's energy policy and which Red Eléctrica is responsible for implementing and fulfilling. Furthermore, it represents an opportunity and showcases Andalusia's commitment to the promotion of the energy transition in the region.
This action is only one of many other projects equally aligned with the fight against climate change promoted by the Spanish Government in this geographic area, such as the closure of the Los Barrios thermal power station, the electrification of the Bobadilla-Algeciras rail transport system or the electrical bolstering of the port of Algeciras, among other actions.