The Autonomic Secretary of Entrepreneurial Promotion and Employment on the Balearic Islands, Lourdes Cardona, and the General Director of Industry and Energy for the Islands, Jaime Ochogavía, today visited the main office of Red Eléctrica de España on the Balearic Islands. Ramón Granadino, Director of Red Eléctrica for the Islands, accompanied them during the visit, which aimed to demonstrate the operation of the electricity link between the Spanish peninsula and the Balearic Islands, following the coming into force of new programming and operating procedures which integrate the operation of both the peninsular and insular electricity system.

These procedures are included in the Ministerial Resolution of 24 July 2012, from the Secretary of State for Energy, which approved the modification of the operating procedures for the peninsular electricity system and those for the insular and extra-peninsular electricity systems. The regulation, published in the Official State Gazette on 10 August, came into force on 14 August.

The resolution affects the operating procedures and the norms regarding the functioning of the electricity production market so as to integrate into the regulation the electricity link between the peninsular electricity system and the Balearic Islands' system. Specifically, the following sections have been affected by the new resolution: system operation procedures; scheduling of generation; rights to charge and the obligation to pay for system adjustment services and demand coverage, in addition to the scheduling of generation of production facilities that register in the economic dispatching, the exchanging of energy and the sharing of information between both systems.

On August 14, when the ministerial resolution came into force, the difference between the insular electricity generation prior to that date and that registered on August 14, that adds up both the insular generation and the supply provided by the link, represented a saving of 130,000 euros. It is estimated that during the period of one year, the contribution of the interconnection link with the insular electricity system will equate to a saving of 50 million euros.

The electricity interconnection between the Spanish peninsula and the Balearic Islands presently provides 15% of the electricity supply on the Islands. Within two or three months the electricity cable will provide between 20 and 25% of the supply, in a way that achieves the goals set for the project, both with regard to the quality and security of supply as well as those relating to the overall saving for the electricity system and those of an environmental nature.