Electrical substation in Extremadua
The Government has approved the Plan for the Development of the Electricity Transmission Network, which will have an investment of almost 7,000 million euros until 2026
The Third Vice President and Minister of Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera, announced on Tuesday the approval of the Electricity Transmission Network Development Plan, which will have an investment of almost 7,000 million euros until 2026.
At the press conference after the Council of Ministers, Ribera pointed out that this plan marks the investment roadmap for Red Eléctrica de España (REE) for the coming years and that the objective is to improve 8,000 kilometers of electrical networks, install 2,700 kilometers of new lines and 700 kilometers of submarine connections.
Thus, it is “an investment of almost 7,000 million euros spread throughout the territory. With special emphasis on the two archipelagos, which are committed to being 100% renewable islands, in a distant time horizon, but which require fundamental infrastructure to be able to manage this commitment”, the minister asserted.
Along these lines, Ribera has pointed out that thanks to this planning “the weight of renewable energies” in Spain will go from the current 46% to about 67% in 2026, “reducing generation with gas plants (combined cycle), which are subject to the volatility of international prices.
Specifically, an investment of 5,704 million euros is contemplated to strengthen the electricity transmission network, while 1,260 million euros will be allocated to interconnections with France, Morocco, Portugal and Andorra.
27% of the total investment (almost 1,900 million euros) will be allocated to the integration of renewables and to mitigate the technical restrictions that would prevent their use, details Ecological Transition, which points out that the main objective is to promote renewable production and maximize the use of the existing network with new technologies, “such as batteries or synchronous compensators.”
Investment in Extremadura
In Extremadura, the four objectives of this new Planning are to feed the new railway axes that will connect the region with the center of the peninsula, the integration of renewable energies in the system, the reinforcement of the distribution network to guarantee the electricity supply in all the territory -especially in Cáceres- and support for high-impact industrial development in the region, specifically in Badajoz.
railway axes
As announced by Red Eléctrica, «the new planning will allow electrical support for two essential high-speed railway axes for the economy of Extremadura: on the one hand, the axis that will connect the region with Madrid and Lisbon (via Cáceres and Badajoz) and, on the other, the one that will connect Mérida with Puertollano (Ciudad Real) and that will serve to connect the main cities of Extremadura with Castilla La Mancha.
For the supply of the former (Toledo-Navalmoral-Cáceres-Badajoz), the planning basically includes the expansion – through new positions – of the 400 kilovolt (kV) substations of Arañuelo, San Serván and Sagrajas, the latter, once built and commissioning.
For its part, in the case of the Puertollano-Mérida axis, it is planned to build two new 400 kV substations in the province of Badajoz (La Serena and Alange) in addition to additional interventions in other substations in Castilla – La Mancha.
These actions will allow the electrification of rail transport between Extremadura (Mérida) and Castilla La Mancha (Puertollano) and because they will structure the territory “thus improving the competitiveness of the region’s productive sectors and promoting the decarbonization of its economy,” according to the company.
Renewables
The electrical planning includes the Andalusia – Extremadura – Madrid renewable energy corridor project, which will facilitate the evacuation of the high solar resource of the Extremaduran community. Thus, four new 400 kV substations are planned: Fuente de Cantos, Fuente del Maestre, Llerena and Pinofranqueado. To these new infrastructures will be added repowering and increases in capacity of the 220kV and 400kV lines on the axes between Andalusia, Extremadura and Madrid.
This corridor will contribute to reducing the current and future limitations of the transport network, thus facilitating better use of the high renewable potential in areas with low environmental impact in the region. In fact, in the future, it will allow the additional integration of up to 5,200 GWh of new green generation per year, which would mean 25% of all the photovoltaic production registered on the Peninsula in 2021. Thanks to this, the emission of 770 kilotonnes will be avoided of CO2 every year.
Industrial development
This Red Eléctrica development plan also contemplates actions that will offer support and reinforcement to the distribution network in numerous points of Extremadura and will especially increase the security of electricity supply in the area around Cáceres. In this sense, the construction of several new lines stands out: Los Arenales-Caceres 220kV, Los Arenales-Trujillo 220kV and Los Arenales-Jose Maria Oriol 220kV.
On the other hand, the execution of this Plan will promote the economic, industrial and social development of Extrema Dura and, specifically, of Badajoz. In fact, two new 400 kV substations have been planned, the previously mentioned one for Sagrajas and the one for Río Caya, and new double circuits of lines of the same voltage level that will join San Serván, Sagrajas and Río Caya. These infrastructures will make it possible to connect and feed large industrial consumers in the Río Caya area that will require significant volumes of energy to carry out their production processes. In this way, these facilities will be strategic for the consolidation of the Logistics Platform of the Iberian Southwest of Badajoz.
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Eddie is an Australian news reporter with over 9 years in the industry and has published on Forbes and tech crunch.