The Spanish minister addressed the Spanish Parliament during a debate on the blackout in the Iberian Peninsula on April 28, emphasizing the critical importance of electrical connections with Portugal and France.
In this context, she discussed the progress and current status of new energy interconnections with both countries.
The minister argued that energy connections “are a way to have a much more robust and resilient system,” highlighting the crucial role of France and its energy supply in restoring the electricity supply following the blackout.
Regarding the new connection between Galicia and northern Portugal, Spain announced the commencement of operations at the Fontefría substation last January, revealing that the interconnection would increase energy exchange capacity between the two countries by about 1,000 megawatts (MW), reaching 4,200 MW from Spain to Portugal and 3,500 MW from Portugal to Spain.
Also in January, the Portuguese government, REN, and the municipalities of Alto Minho, through which the high-voltage Ponte de Lima-Fontefría line will pass, announced that “small deviations” were under consideration to minimize the project’s locally contested impact.
“REN, at our request and with the mediation and involvement of the Secretary of State for the Environment and the president of the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA), has been negotiating with local mayors to find small possible deviations that do not significantly impact the construction costs of the line,” stated the Minister of Environment, Graça Carvalho.
The project concerns the “Ponte de Lima – Fontefría Double Line, Portuguese Section, at 400 kV,” which received a conditionally favorable opinion in July 2023 in the Environmental Compliance Report of the Execution Project (RECAPE) and, in February 2024, obtained the Project Execution Environmental Compliance Decision (DCAPE) from APA.
In October of the previous year, the Supreme Administrative Court accepted an appeal from Alto Minho municipalities, referring the precautionary measure assessment they presented against the line back to the first instance.
The municipalities of Monção, Ponte de Lima, Ponte da Barca, Arcos de Valdevez, and Melgaço filed a “precautionary process to suspend the effectiveness” of the favorable Environmental Impact Declaration (DIA) for the high-voltage line project.
The local authorities further sought an “injunction to the Ministry of the Environment to refrain from authorizing or licensing such a project.”
According to the Supreme Administrative Court, the municipalities’ appeal is justified due to “potential damages to fundamental societal values, be they health, environment, or architectural heritage.”
The court also stated that the “act enabling the construction of a very high voltage line is liable to create a fait accompli situation and cause irreparable or hard-to-repair damage.”
The project encompasses the municipalities of Vila Verde in the Braga district, and Ponte de Lima, Ponte da Barca, Arcos de Valdevez, Monção, and Melgaço in the Viana do Castelo district.
