Today Red Eléctrica de España commences the works required to seal a leak in the reserve cable (cable no. 4) of the link between Spain and Morocco, a facility jointly-owned in equal shares by REE and ONEE. The cable laying ship ‘EDT Hercules’ is already in the area in order to proceed with the sealing operations.

The incident took place in Moroccan waters 21.6 km from the Spanish coast and at a depth of 208 metres. This information was immediately communicated on 31 July to the Spanish maritime authorities and all the authorities and groups concerned. From the outset, Red Eléctrica mobilised all the necessary technical and human resources, above all, taking into account that the depth at which the damage was found makes its repair particularly complex.

The electricity interconnection between Spain and Morocco is made up of two 400 kV lines, one commissioned in 1997 and the other in 2006, comprising in turn of seven cables: three per circuit, plus one reserve cable. The seven cables run from the terminal station of Tarifa, at the Spanish end, to the terminal station of Fardioua, at the Moroccan end, crossing the Strait of Gibraltar.

The security of the electricity supply of the interconnection has not been compromised at any time thanks to its double-circuit design and the fact that the affected cable (reserve cable) was not in service.
For safety reasons, during the sealing works both circuits will be out of service for a few hours.