• The BOE (Official State Gazette) published on 1 July a series of investments in addition to those set out in the grid development plan, approved by the Cabinet of Ministers on 6 June

• Among the approved projects is the new link between Ibiza and Formentera with an investment of 77.7 million euros

• In Majorca, the Llàtzer and the San Juan de Dios substations will be enlarged to deal with new electricity supply to areas of the Llevant Industrial estate, the developments in Coll d'en Rabassa and along the Manacor road

• In Menorca, the enlargement of the Dragonera substation will allow for the growth of the Mahón POIMA Industrial estate

Red Eléctrica will be making further investments to those already planned for the period 2015-2017 for a total of 100.9 million euros. This level of investment, approved by the Cabinet of Ministers on June 6 and published in the Official State Gazette on 1 July, includes projects such as the new submarine electricity interconnection between Ibiza and Formentera; the enlargement of the Llàtzer and San Juan de Dios substations in Palma de Mallorca, and the enlargement of the Dragonera substation in Menorca.

The approval of the Cabinet is made in accordance with Electricity Sector Law 24/2013, which allows the electricity transmission grid planning, included in the planning of the electricity and gas sectors 2008-2016, to be modified on an exceptional basis when strategic reasons arise regarding new supply needs or are justified on the basis of achieving greater efficiency.

New Ibiza-Formentera interconnection

Among the projects approved is the new submarine electricity link between Ibiza and Formentera that will strengthen the existing interconnection between the two islands and reinforce the guarantee of supply of the Formentera electricity subsystem, which is smaller and therefore strongly dependent upon the availability of existing interconnections, currently needing periodic investment for their maintenance due to their age. It is worth noting that during the period 2011-2013, Red Eléctrica invested 1.7 million euros in maintenance activities of the current Ibiza-Formentera interconnection.

The new interconnection will have a dual link and will be 23 km in length in the underwater section and a further 9.3 km for the on-land section. Once in service, Formentera will benefit from an increased security and quality of supply while at the same time promoting greater economic efficiency of the system. In turn, it will contribute to an environmental improvement as it will represent a reduction in generation and therefore also of CO₂ emissions.

The project, budgeted at 77.7 million euros, ensures supply for the island in the long-term, and will eliminate current costs arising from the need for local generation, that is less efficient and economical. Once the new interconnection is in service, this local generation will remain only as a safety backup reserve for the system and its activation would not usually be required, as is currently the case, in the summer periods of high demand. The interconnection will have a fibre optic cable, with the purpose of enabling the remote operating and management of the interconnection. The excess capacity of the optical fibre may be used by telecom operators and for the supply of telecommunication services to the island of Formentera.

Mallorca: enlargement of substations for new electricity supply

In the case of Majorca, the projects approved include the enlargement of two substations thru the addition of new bays and transformer units for the transmission grid and the distribution network, and that furthermore will provide coverage for the new supply in the area of Palma de Mallorca. The enlargement of the Llàtzer substation, with a budget of 700,000 euros, will help meet the demand for new urban development of the Llevant Industrial estate and for the service and residential areas located along the Manacor road entering Palma. Additionally, the enlargement of the San Juan de Dios substation, with a budget of 500,000 euros, will provide support for the transmission grid and electricity supply to the planned enlargement of a large commercial area in Coll d'en Rabassa.
 

Menorca: supply for the Poima Industrial estate in Mahón
In Menorca, the approval given by the Cabinet of Ministers will represent the enlargement, with a new transmission bay, of the Dragonera substation. The planned investment of 600,000 euros, will allow to supply the demand of the planned enlargement of the POIMA Industrial estate in Mahón; an industrial area  that has long been demanded at various levels of economic activity and by the society in Menorca, and that will result in greater investment and employment generation.

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