Red Eléctrica starts submarine cable laying works for Balearic Islands interconnection project

Red Electrica de Espana (REE) has began the preparations for the Balearic Islands interconnection project. The Skagerrak, owned by Nexans, has begun the subsea laying of the new cable in Cala en Bosc (Ciudadela, Menorca). These works are estimated to end one week later in Cala Mesquida (Capdepera, Majorca).

This new interconnection, which is scheduled to be commissioned in the third quarter of 2020, will connect Menorca with the entire Balearic Islands’ electricity system and with the Spanish peninsula. With a cost of EUR84 million (US$92.57 million), it will improve the security and quality of supply in Menorca, facilitate progress in the energy transition of Menorca and the Balearic Islands, maximize the evacuation of renewable energy under safe conditions for the system and reduce CO2 emissions in Menorca.

The link is comprised of a three-core 132 kV submarine-underground cable, weighing about 2,300 tonnes (56.5 kg per meter) and which connects the substations of Ciudadela and Cala Mesquida, in Menorca and Majorca, respectively. The route includes 41 km of cable laid on the seabed, at a maximum depth of 81 meters, and 12.4 km of cable installed underground in Menorca and 800 meters in Mallorca. The land sections of the link in the two islands are buried underground.

Once the entire cable has been laid, work will be conducted until March to protect the submarine link by burying the cable in the seabed using jetting1 and trenching2 techniques. The purpose of this protection is, among others, to maximise the integrity and safety of the link, especially in the face of external aggressions derived from illegal anchoring practices.