‘Energetic island’ is one of the fashionable expressions or, at least, one of the most listened to on the television news in recent days, after the Spanish Government appealed to this concept in its last chance to urge Europe to give him permission to unlink the price of gas light: “It is important find a formula that suits the geographical and energetic reality of the Iberian Peninsula which, I insist, is a energy island“, defended the Prime Minister on Friday, Pedro Sanchezupon arrival at European Council.
And in that sentence is the key to the meaning of this locution that is none other than the low energy exchange capacity that Spain has with the rest of the European countries. This occurs for two main reasons: firstly because of its geographical circumstances such as peninsula, being only connected to Europe through the Pyrenees, but above all, because on that isthmus the level of interconnection is very lowboth in the electrical field and in the gas field.
In the case of electrical marketto which Sánchez refers when defending this concept of an energy island in Brussels, an interconnection is “the electrical lines and substations that facilitate the exchange of energy between neighboring countries”, as necessary as “the highways, train lines or communications for exchange goods or data”, As explained in a video by the operator of the Spanish electrical system (Electric Network).
As the president of the Iberian Energy Market Operator, Carmen Becerril, explained a year ago in an interview in El Periódico, Spain is fully integrated with the rest of Europe from technical and technological point of view when sharing “the same market model, the same matching algorithm, the same rules and the same prices”; however, the convergence is not total due to the lack of that physical infrastructure.
The European Union recommended in 2002 that all member countries have by 2020 a interconnection of at least 10% of its installed capacity for electricity production. That goal was revised in 2014 and rose to 15% by 2030. But today, Spain only has five electrical links with France, which add up to a total of 2,800 megawatts of power and represent the 2.8% of the total of the country’s energy capacity (100,000 megawatts), far from the 11,000 megawatts that I would have to have to comply with the EU target set two years ago.
safety and price
The importance of electrical interconnections root is two primary keys: improve the security of supply of countries, by facilitating support between neighboring systems, and at the same time facilitate trade and increase competition by allowing electricity go from where it is cheaper to produce to where it is more expensive, with the consequent price reduction. For this reason, the formula designed by Spain and Portugal to put a cap on the price of gas on the Peninsula includes a prior matching with France at ordinary pricefor prevent sales from the Peninsula to France from skyrocketing when the price here is cheaper as a consequence of the extraordinary ‘intervention’ of the Executive.
In the case of security, if the Spanish system has an imbalance (alteration between power generation and consumption) and falls, the interconnection with France It allows recover that amount of lost energy instantly so there is no blackout. This “becomes more evident in emergency situations,” says Red Eléctrica in the video. And this has become clear just a few days ago, as a result of the ukrainian war. This country became a energy Island After The Invasion, by deciding to stop being connected to the Russian electricity grid. Then, President Vladomir Zelenski asked – together with Moldova, also in the same situation – the European Union to be able to connect to its network, a fact that took place on March 26.
In addition, a third fundamental benefit is added today: electrical interconnections allow a greater integration of renewable energiesby letting the green energy that a country produces at a given time, but does not consume, can be used by the other country and, at the same time, allow a country like France, which has a lot of nuclear power, to act back from another like Spain that has a lot of renewables.
The case of gas
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In the case of gas, Spain is also isolated from Europe and, in fact, that is one of the main reasons why in a crisis such as the current one, in which the European Union seeks to reduce its dependence on Russian gas, it cannot become part of the solution as a gas ‘supplier’ to France. The single pipeline between the Pyrenees has a capacity of 7,000 million cubic centimeters. That is the maximum amount of gas that Spain can send to the rest of Europe, despite having a third of all the regasification plants in the European Union, since that figure represents only 4.5% of Russian gas imports from the EU (155,000 million cubic meters).
According to market sources, this Spanish lack is the main reason for the Algeria’s ‘infatuation’ with Italy in recent months: Mario Draghi’s country does have a connection with central Europe that allows it to be called upon to play a very important role in the medium term for take this raw material to the rest of the continent.