- With a budget of €96 million, this infrastructure will help cover the entire electricity demand of Formentera, strengthen the guarantee of supply and promote the energy transition in the Balearic Islands and its electricity system as a whole.
- The Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge granted the relevant Authorisation and Administrative Permits, as well as the Declaration of Public Utility, in September this year
Red Eléctrica de España, the sole transmission agent and operator of the national electricity system, today begins construction of the land sections of the route in Ibiza and Formentera of the new submarine interconnection that will bolster the existing link between the two islands. This new interconnection will help cover the entire electricity demand of Formentera in a stable and secure manner at all times and will strengthen the security of supply, while promoting the green transition process of the Balearic Islands as a whole.
The future interconnection includes the deployment of two 132 kV cable links between the new substation in Formentera, currently under construction, and the existing substation in Torrent (Santa Eulària des Riu, Ibiza), which is currently being enlarged. The interconnection has an underwater section of 27.15 km and will run at a maximum depth of 62 metres, while the land section is 5.26 km in Ibiza and 4.8 km in Formentera. In both cases, the route is completely underground and runs almost entirely through publicly owned areas alongside existing main public roads and highways.
This project, which in September received the Prior Administrative Authorisation and the relevant permits for the construction works and that was granted the Declaration of Public Utility from the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, has also enjoyed the close collaboration of the Government of the Balearic Islands, the Island Councils of Ibiza and Formentera and of all the municipalities involved. The project will represent an investment of €96 million and will contribute to strengthening the electricity supply connection between the two islands, currently linked by a 30 kilovolt (kV) double-circuit electricity interconnection.
For this new electricity interconnection project, the cable landing point in Ibiza, at Sa Punta de Santa Eulària des Riu, in the bay of Talamanca, coincides with the existing submarine electricity link that already exists between Ibiza and the island of Majorca. Additionally, the new route of the land section, which will connect with the existing substation in Torrent, runs under the following city streets of Ibiza: Calàndria, Cap Martinet, Jesús, Sa Llavanera, Torrent, Camí des Puig d'en Valls and Camí de Can Arabí.
Meanwhile, in Formentera, the cable landing point is located in es Carnatge and the new route of the land section, which will connect with the new substation, currently under construction, will be buried alongside the PM-820 road and the des Ca Marí road.