The European Commission will propose the creation of energy highways to enhance interconnection, particularly electricity, in the European Union (EU), aiming for Portugal and Spain to benefit from such connections due to their energy isolation.
In the plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, delivered her first State of the Union address of her second term and fifth of her European journey, announcing “a new initiative called Energy Highways” to tackle “critical bottlenecks in energy infrastructure.”
Reacting to the announcement, speaking to Lusa in Strasbourg, the European Commissioner for Energy highlighted that “Spain and Portugal need these connections.”
“That is why it is at the top of our list and I can assure you it will be one of our main priorities to make it happen,” added Dan Jørgensen.
“Everyone talks about using more renewable energy, which is obviously very important, but if we are not better connected, if our energy systems are not better connected, then we will not lower prices as much as we should,” he argued.
Therefore, the European Commissioner indicated a desire to advance with a “more top-down approach,” where the EU executive identifies the major bottlenecks and proposes member states take action, providing incentives and funding.
According to Dan Jørgensen, the situation on the Iberian Peninsula and the recent blackout last April are “a good example.”
“We had a serious problem on the Iberian Peninsula and saw the blackout. We still cannot conclude exactly why this happened, but it is clear to all experts that the more connected we are, the better connected we are, the lower the risk of blackouts like this,” he told Lusa.
When questioned about French skepticism to advance with more interconnections with this territory, Dan Jørgensen expressed confidence “that France also sees the value because it is also in France’s interest to have this connected internal energy market.”
The European Commission shares Portugal’s view on the need to build more energy interconnections in the EU, particularly between the Iberian Peninsula and the rest of the bloc, and will therefore advance with an action plan in the autumn while attempting to dialogue with France.
Last May, the governments of Portugal and Spain requested a “firm political and financial commitment” from the European Commission to advance interconnections between the Iberian Peninsula and the rest of the European Union, following the April blackout.
The blackout on the Iberian Peninsula on April 28 highlighted the importance of increasing the resilience of the EU’s energy grid at a time when the Iberian territory has connectivity below 3% with the rest of the Union.
The Portuguese Government has been advocating for an increase in Portugal’s energy interconnection with the rest of the EU to 15% by 2030, through the construction of more interconnections.
The EU has precisely set an interconnection target of at least 15% by 2030.
The strengthening of energy interconnections between Portugal and Spain and the EU has been discussed for several years, but due to France’s skepticism, it has never fully advanced, despite being important for increasing energy security, reducing fossil fuel dependency, lowering costs, and facilitating the transition to renewable energies.
