The submarine electricity interconnection between Majorca and the Spanish peninsula, and the subsequent integration of the insular electricity system with the peninsular electricity market has allowed electricity generation technologies with zero CO2 emissions to provide 16.2% of the energy consumed in the Balearic Islands in 2013.
Of this 16.2% contribution, 4.6% of the energy was produced in nuclear power stations, whilst 11.6% was generated from renewable sources. In addition, 2.4% of this renewable energy was produced in the Balearic Islands archipelago.
The importance of the interconnection to the increased contribution of emission free energy is due to the fact that energy transferred from the peninsular electricity market has a more diversified and economic generation than the insular, with a high percentage of energy from renewable sources. In 2011, the last full year before the commissioning of the submarine interconnection, energy with zero CO2 emissions represented 1.9% of the coverage of the Balearic Islands’ demand.
The operation of the electricity interconnection between the Balearic Islands and the Spanish peninsula began in February 2012, in a test period that lasted until August of that year, when the interconnection began operating under normal operating conditions.
Throughout 2013, the energy coming from the Spanish peninsula covered 22% of the total consumption of the Balearic Islands’ system. In addition, the contribution of the interconnection during that period led to a 43 million-euro saving in the cost of generation and a parallel reduction of an estimated at 250,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions.
The commissioning the Spanish peninsula-Majorca interconnection in 2012 with a 400 MW capacity is the first effort made in Spain to incorporate isolated systems into the continental electricity grid, both to ensure security of supply and to promote the integration of national markets.
Red Eléctrica is presently carrying out the works for the installation of the submarine electricity link between Majorca and Ibiza. This link, which represents an investment of 225 million euros, will unify the two existing electricity systems in the Balearic Islands and thus complete their integration with the Iberian and European electricity markets.
This new link, which is forecasted to be operational in 2015, will provide an improved guarantee of supply, will allow a further reduction of costs for the system and a further increase in the participation of emission-free generation technologies in the Balearic Islands’ electricity system.
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