Giulio Verne, a cable vessel from the company Prysmian, crossed the Strait on September 15 to dock in Ceuta. In his winery he brought more than copper and steel: the first underwater cable that connects to the autonomous city with the peninsular electrical system. With this, Ceuta leaves decades of energy isolation behind. And Spain, when looking in that mirror, is reflected the challenges that still Drag in your own networks.
Weaving networks. According to the Red Eléctrica press release from Spainon August 26, the line began from the Line of La Concepción, in Cádiz. The cable toured 58 kilometers under the sea until reaching the Ceutí coast, with maneuvers almost 900 meters deep and special measures to protect the biodiversity of the Strait.
The boat chosen for this operation, Giulio Verne, is one of the few of the world prepared for this type of missions: it can load up to 7,000 tons of cable and place it more than 1,600 meters underwater.
Leaving behind the “energy island.” Until now, Ceuta’s electrical demand was covered with diesel and gas turbines. The result were high costs for the system, dependence on fossil fuels and polluting emissions in an especially sensitive enclave such as narrow.
Thanks to the interconnection, Ceuta will stop depending completely on fossil fuels. As we point out in Xatakaup to 87% of the electrical demand can be covered with clean energy. That will be a respite for the environment – about 300,000 tons of co₂ will be avoided – and also for the system invoice, with a saving of about 30 million euros per year. From Ree summarize it with a clear image: This “umbilical cord” will give Ceuta a supply as stable and safe as that of the Peninsula, but also cheaper and sustainable.
The challenge is even greater. Yes, Ceuta has ceased to be an “energy island”, but Spain continues to be in more than one sense. The Iberian Peninsula maintains an interconnection level With France of just 2.8%far from 15% marked by the European Union by 2030. In addition, they are still waiting for reach concrete plans To create electric interconnection runners, while they continue to suffer an electric “bottleneck.
However, the problem is also internal. Within Spain, at noon there is cheap renewable spare in rural Spain, but at the afternoon, electricity is fallen in urban areas. According to the employer Aelēc83.4% of distribution knots are already saturated, which blocks the connection of new industrial or digital consumption and forces to waste up to 30% of clean energy at some points.
Rather than directly relieve these knots – Ceuta’s link responds to another logic – the project demonstrates that Spain has the technical capacity to undertake large interconnections, just what you need to reinforce its internal network and stop losing clean energy along the way.
More networks. In Ceuta, the road map is clear and will benefit the electrical system. The second submarine circuit will tend along autumn. On land, the new virgin substation of Africa (132 kV) should be ready in September, and in October the new Algeciras transformation park will be put into service, connected to the existing 220 kV substation. With the Soterrado terrestrial sections almost finished, the official forecast is that all the infrastructure is running before the end of this year.
You have to get muscle. The Ceuta cable shows that Spain has technical muscle to undertake complex and sustainable projects, with underground, directed drilling and compact substations. But it also launches a warning: it is not enough to celebrate a new link. The energy transition requires more internal network, more distribution capacity in demand poles, more storage and more international interconnections.
Other countries have already advanced. The United Kingdom and Denmark Viking Link premiered in 2023a 765 kilometers cable that crosses the North Sea to import or export electricity according to the wind. Spain, which beats cheap renewable generation records at noon, needs something similar not to run out at night. The Strait already has its “umbilical cord.” The question is whether Spain will know how to weave the network that connects it, really, with itself and with Europe.
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