New Minho-Galicia electricity interconnection launched today

Portugal and Spain are inaugurating a new electricity grid interconnection today, representing an investment of €70 million on the Portuguese side, aimed at strengthening electricity exchanges between the two countries and including more renewable energy.

The ceremony marks the entry into service of the new link between the two nations’ grids and is organised by REN — Redes Energéticas Nacionais and Red Eléctrica, a subsidiary of Redeia, which are responsible for electricity transmission in both countries.

The new connection is a very high-voltage line and forms part of the electricity corridor between the northern Minho and Galicia regions, linking the two grids via the Ponte de Lima, Fontefría and Beariz substations.

According to information available on REN’s website, the project will increase interconnection capacity between Portugal and Spain, in line with the objectives of the Iberian Electricity Market (MIBEL) and European targets for cross-border capacity.

In practice, the new infrastructure should enable greater electricity exchanges between the two countries, reduce grid congestion and facilitate the integration of renewable energy generation into the electricity system.

The new link comes into service just over a year after the Iberian blackout of April 28, 2025, which affected Portugal and Spain and intensified the debate on the need for more robust electricity grids.

The project involves a double-circuit 400 kV overhead line between Beariz, Fontefría and Ponte de Lima, with an estimated total length of 90 kilometres, of which 18 are in Spain and 72 in Portugal.

Initially, the cross-border section between Fontefría and Ponte de Lima will have only one circuit installed.

According to REN, the new connection will enable a minimum commercial interconnection capacity of 3,000 megawatts to be sustained in both directions, as agreed at the Iberian summit between the governments of Portugal and Spain.

Today’s event will be attended by REN’s chief executive, Rodrigo Costa, and the chair of Redeia, Beatriz Corredor, as well as the minister for the environment and energy, Maria da Graça Carvalho, and the third vice-president of the Spanish Government and minister for ecological transition, Sara Aagesen.

Speeches are also scheduled by María Jesús Lorenzana, Regional Minister for the Economy and Industry of the Xunta of Galicia, and by representatives of the European Commission.

According to studies cited by REN in the context of the European electricity grid development plan, the project could lead to a reduction in variable electricity generation costs of between €4 million and €29 million per year by 2030, depending on the scenarios. These figures also take into account the increase in interconnection capacity between the French and Spanish grids forecast for that timeframe.

REN estimates that the infrastructure could prevent losses in renewable energy production of between 38 and 464 gigawatt-hours per year by 2030, again depending on the scenarios.

Source: LUSA