Pontevedra, Spain, July 2, 2026 (Lusa) - Portugal's minister for the environment and energy said on Thursday that the new electricity interconnector with Spain will provide “greater resilience to the grid” and help both countries maintain a reliable electricity supply.
“It gives us greater resilience on both sides; we can increase our capacity to generate renewable energy, it ensures security of supply and improves the likelihood of maintaining uninterrupted power,” Maria da Graça Carvalho explained to journalists in Pontevedra, Galicia, Spain.
The minister was speaking following the symbolic inauguration of the high-voltage link between the Portuguese and Spanish grids, via the substations at Ponte de Lima (in the district of Viana do Castelo), Fontefría and Beariz. This represents an investment of €70 million on the Portuguese side to strengthen electricity exchanges between the two countries and integrate more renewable energy.
According to the minister, Portugal has already met the European Union’s 2030 target of achieving 15% interconnections between Portugal and Spain.
“To have an efficient and sustainable electricity system, we need generation, storage and the grid. The aim is to have a stronger grid, both within each country and in the interconnection between countries,” she explained.
In her speech, she highlighted the “extra effort put into the route planning” for the new interconnector, which addressed the concerns of local councillors and minimised the impact “on the environment, the landscape, people and cultural heritage”.
“On the Portuguese side, the line crosses the Peneda-Gerês National Park. This required extra effort in route planning to ensure the lowest possible impact,” she emphasised.
In response to feedback from local councillors, the team relocated some pylons and carried out a partial redesign of the route, she said, adding that the team also referred to the compensation paid by REN – Rede Elétrica Nacional – to the affected Portuguese municipalities.
According to REN, the new interconnector will enable a minimum commercial interconnection capacity of 3,000 megawatts in both directions, as agreed at an Iberian summit between the governments of Portugal and Spain.
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 generation into the electricity system.
The new interconnector comes into service just over a year after the Iberian blackout of 28 April 2025, which affected Portugal and Spain and intensified the debate on the need for more robust electricity grids.
The interconnector forms part of a new corridor between Beariz and Fontefría in Spain and the Porto area, passing through the Ponte de Lima and Vila Nova de Famalicão substations in Portugal.
The project involves a double 400-kilovolt 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 are in Portugal.
Initially, the cross-border section between Fontefría and Ponte de Lima will have only one circuit installed.
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