Study on the benefits of additional electricity interconnections between Iberian peninsula and rest of Europe : final report

The objective of better integration of the Iberian Peninsula with the rest of Europe will require the development of additional interconnections between Spain and the rest of Europe. The objective of this study is to assess the benefits and costs of additional interconnectors between Spain and other Member States. In order to assess the costs and benefits associated with additional interconnections, Tractebel Engineering (TE) has studied in total 12 scenarios, corresponding to 3 load-generation visions and 4 transmission scenarios, as shown in Figure 1. Different load-generation visions, based on 2030 ENTSO-E Visions are used to span the range of possible power generation level and structures in 2030 and to assess the impact of the energy mix on the profitability of the interconnections. The transmission scenarios allow measuring the optimal interconnection capacity between Iberian Peninsula and the rest of Europe. One of the scenarios (Scenario 0) corresponds to the reference case. It includes all the existing interconnections between Spain and the rest of Europe as well as the three Projects of Common Interest that were approved in 2014 (the double circuit HVDC cable Baixas - Santa Llogaia, the Arkale Phase Shifter Transformer and the Biscay Gulf project). With these projects, the interconnection capacity between Spain and the rest of Europe should be 7.8 GW, which will correspond to 7.0% of the installed capacity in Spain in 2020. Three other transmission scenarios have been built iteratively so that the Net Transfer Capacity (NTC) between Spain and the rest of Europe reach respectively about 10%, 12% and 15% of installed capacity in Spain in 2030, which corresponds to 14 GW, 16.8 GW and 21.1 GW of interconnection capacity around Spain. Indeed, from the market point of view, only the NTC is relevant. This statement is consistent with the methodology applied by the ENTSO-E. The NTC are calculated based on the N-1 rule at the peak load according to the regulations approved by the ENTSO-E and the European Council.