The European Investment Bank (EIB) is pledging €1.6 billion to finance the construction of the Bay of Biscay electricity interconnection between Spain and France.
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The EIB financing for the Bay of Biscay project takes the form of loans to Spanish and French transmission-system operators Red Eléctrica and RTE Réseau de transport d’électricité.
The parties signed first loan tranches totalling €1.2 billion at the EIB headquarters in Luxembourg.
The event was attended by Nadia Calviño, president of the EIB Group, Dan Jørgensen, European Commissioner for Energy and Housing, Marc Ferracci, French minister of Industry and Energy, Miguel González Suela, Spanish deputy secretary of State - for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, Beatriz Corredor, chairwoman of Redeia, parent company of Red Eléctrica and Thomas Veyrenc Member of the Executive Board, director general for Finance, Strategy and Economics of RTE.
This financial support adds up to the €578 million EU grant allocated to this project under the Connecting Europe Facility.
Construction of the Bay of Biscay link is already under way by Inelfe – joint venture by RTE and Red Eléctrica, and it is due to become operational in 2028.
Once operational, the project will almost double the electricity exchange capacity between France and Spain to 5,000 MW.
That means cleaner, more secure, and more affordable power for millions of citizens, while avoiding 600,000 tonnes of CO₂ each year.
The project will strengthen the interconnection capacity between France and Spain, helping the Iberian peninsula’s progress towards the EU interconnection target for Member States of at least 15% of installed production capacity by 2030.
The Bay of Biscay project, together with the underground project between Baixas-Santa Llogaia and the improvement of the existing Argia-Hernani infrastructure will contribute to enhance the interconnection capacity between the Iberian Peninsula and the rest of Europe, while better integrating it within the EU energy market.
The connection will link two alternating current systems via a submarine direct current line.
At each end of the connection, stations in Cubnezais in France and Gatika in Spain will convert the direct current into alternating current for connection to the transmission grids of Spain and France. ■