Eia Approved

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.