Andalucia - Ceuta

On 26 August 2025, Spain commenced offshore construction for the Peninsula–Ceuta interconnection, with Renewables Now reporting that subsea works had started on the power link between the mainland and Ceuta.

Red Eléctrica, part of Redeia, commenced installation of the first submarine power cable for the Andalucía–Ceuta interconnection on 26 August 2025, starting from the mainland coast off La Línea de la Concepción. Using Prysmian’s cable-laying vessel Giulio Verne, the company began laying approximately 58 kilometres of cable along the seabed across the Strait of Gibraltar towards the coast of Ceuta.

In 2024, Red Eléctrica (Redeia) obtained operational licences and commissioned multiple new transmission assets in Andalusia, including works at the 220 kV Algeciras substation, which represent a significant strategic advance for the Peninsula–Ceuta electrical interconnection project. The upgraded Algeciras substation, located in Cádiz province, strengthens the transmission grid in southern Spain and is highlighted by the company as a key element in progressing the mainland–Ceuta link, one of its most important projects for social equality and territorial cohesion.

In June 2024, Spain’s Secretaría de Estado de Energía granted the administrative pre-authorisation (autorización administrativa previa) for Red Eléctrica’s Península–Ceuta electricity interconnection project, allowing the Andalucia–Ceuta link to progress towards construction following the earlier positive environmental impact decision.

On 13 June 2024, construction works for the electricity interconnection linking mainland Spain with Ceuta began, as reported by Renewables Now, marking the start of main project build activities intended to bring renewable power to the autonomous city and end its electrical isolation from the peninsular system.

By 11 June 2024, the Andalucia-Ceuta electrical interconnection project had obtained a favourable Environmental Impact Statement (Declaracion de Impacto Ambiental, DIA) from the Spanish Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, confirming approval of the Environmental Impact Assessment and allowing Red Electrica (Redeia) to proceed towards construction. The EIA procedure was conducted under Spain's Law 21/2013 on environmental assessment, as the planned 132 kV double-circuit submarine transmission line exceeds 3 km over Natura 2000 areas and falls under Annex I, group 9 of the Environmental Assessment Law, requiring ordinary (full) EIA. The assessment evaluated the environmental effects of the approximately 58 km subsea cable route across the Strait of Gibraltar at depths up to 900 metres, the horizontal directional drilling (HDD) shore crossings at both the mainland (La Linea de la Concepcion) and Ceuta landfalls, and the underground onshore cable sections totalling approximately 11 km. Red Electrica had previously submitted the initial project document (Documento Inicial) to initiate the EIA procedure. The favourable EIA decision, together with the administrative pre-authorisation (autorizacion administrativa previa) from the Secretaria de Estado de Energia granted around the same period, constituted the key regulatory milestones enabling the start of construction works in June 2024.

On 18 July 2022, Prysmian Group was awarded a contract by Red Eléctrica (Red Eléctrica de España, S.A.U.), the Spanish transmission system operator, to design, supply, install, and commission the submarine and land power cables for the new 132 kV HVAC double-circuit interconnection between the Spanish mainland and Ceuta via the Strait of Gibraltar. The award, part of two submarine interconnection contracts worth approximately €250 million in total, covers a three-core submarine power cable system with XLPE insulation and associated land cables, comprising about 90 km of submarine route and roughly 11 km of land route for the double link between mainland Spain and Ceuta.

On 21 April 2022, Red Eléctrica, together with the Government of Spain, the Regional Government of Andalusia and the Government of Ceuta, formally presented the Peninsula–Ceuta (Andalucia–Ceuta) electricity interconnection as part of Spain’s binding 2021–2026 Electricity Planning, stating that the project foresees an investment of approximately EUR 221 million. The presentations also highlighted expected system-wide economic benefits, estimating annual savings of around EUR 30 million for the national electricity system once the link is in operation, alongside CO2 emissions reductions in the Strait of Gibraltar region.

By 21 April 2022, Red Eléctrica had completed the detailed routing and engineering design for the Peninsula–Ceuta interconnection, defining an underground and subsea cable route that minimises environmental and visual impact. The design specifies a 9-km underground land section on the Andalusian side using existing urban roads, a horizontal directional drilling landfall near Torre Nueva beach, and a 58‑km subsea section across the Strait of Gibraltar, as well as the Ceuta-side landfall at Chorrillo car park and 1.7‑km underground route to the new 132 kV Virgen de África substation.

On 21 April 2022, Red Eléctrica de España, the transmission system operator, announced that it had initiated the administrative and permitting process for the Peninsula–Ceuta (Andalucía–Ceuta) electricity interconnection. This process begins with a first phase of public information, in which the company makes the project available to public administrations and all stakeholders in Andalusia and Ceuta so they can submit consultations and contributions, aiming to build consensus and ensure the project delivers maximum social and environmental benefits while minimising impacts along the cable route.

On 21 April 2022, Red Eléctrica, together with the Government of Spain, the Regional Government of Andalusia and the Government of Ceuta, officially presented the Peninsula–Ceuta electricity interconnection project, a strategic HVAC link between La Línea de la Concepción (Cádiz) and Ceuta that will integrate the autonomous city into the peninsular grid. At this event the company detailed the project concept and route, noted that it forms part of the binding 2021–2026 Electricity Planning approved by the Spanish Government, and announced that it had initiated the administrative and permitting process with an initial public information phase to gather input from administrations and stakeholders.

On 22 March 2022, the Spanish Council of Ministers approved the national 2021–2026 Electricity Transmission Grid Planning, which explicitly includes the Peninsula–Ceuta interconnection developed by Red Eléctrica. This planning decision, described as binding for the company, formally establishes the Andalucia–Ceuta link as a strategic transmission project within Spain’s regulated network development framework.

By the time of the latest project status update on its website, Red Eléctrica (Redeia) reported that construction of the new 132 kV Virgen de África substation in Ceuta, the first transmission-network substation in the autonomous city and a key asset for the Peninsula–Ceuta interconnector, had been completed. The company notes that this milestone, together with the arrival of the first cable in Ceuta and preparations to lay the second, marks decisive progress towards completion of the mainland–Ceuta link.

Red Eléctrica reports that the first cable for the Peninsula–Ceuta interconnection has already arrived in Ceuta, indicating completion of the initial cable landfall at the autonomous city, while laying of the second cable is planned for the coming weeks.

Red Eléctrica, as promoter of the submarine electricity interconnection between the Iberian Peninsula and Ceuta, prepared and filed the initial project document to initiate the ordinary Environmental Impact Assessment procedure required under Law 21/2013, since the planned transmission line exceeds 3 km over Natura 2000 areas and falls under Annex I, group 9 of the Environmental Assessment Law.