An interconnected network will help achieve one of the goals of the Energy Union: to guarantee affordable, safe and sustainable energy compatible with growth and employment throughout the European Union.

• Security of Supply, especially when consumption is high.
  Interconnectors allow a country to import electricity form another when needed, for instance in when consumption is high or in case of technical incident.
• More renewable energies integration.
  Connecting national grids will allow renewable energies to flow across Europe and be available for European consumers.
• The cheapest electricity to flow in Europe.
  Interconnectors allows the cheapest electricity to flow in Europe for the benefit of the consumer.

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The European Union (EU) strongly supports the project. Promoting interconnections between EU member States is one of the cornerstones of the EU energy policy. They will provide the European consumers with a more secure electricity, at the best cost. In addition, interconnections will increase the integration of renewable energy. EU, indeed, has included the project in the fourth existing lists of Projects of Common Interest (PCI)¹.

The interconnection capacity between Spain and France is among the lowest of all the European countries and remains well below the 10% interconnection target for 2020 and 15% interconnection target for 2030.

¹The 5th PCI list was published in the Official Journal of the European Union las 19th November 2021.

No, the rate of usage of the existing lines is very high, and they are saturated most hours of the year. In fact, in the last 3 years the Spain-France electric border was saturated 76% of the hours.

This solution is the best because it avoids building new high voltage overhead power lines (400kV). It allows us not to reinforce the existing grid.

This is the project with the least impact on the territory.

The line will be fully buried, both in land and offshore. In addition, most part of the line will be offshore. The start and end points of the line were considered the best solution because they avoid building new high voltage overhead power lines (400kV) for the interconnection itself, as well as for the neighbouring 400 kV network.

For instance, in France, should a 400 kV connection point be chosen closer to the border (Pyrénées Atlantiques, Landes), a new high voltage overhead power line would have been necessary to reach Cubnezais. The existing 400 kV overhead lines are not powerful enough to transmit 2000 MW of additional power.

Yes, the information and public participation phase of the project was initiated in September 2017 according to the European requirements that establish that this type of process must be conducted in the initial planning stage of trans-European energy infrastructure (Regulation 347/2013 applied to the PCIs). This phase was concluded on 15 March 2018.

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Cada país tiene un proceso de consulta pública diferente en función de su propia reglamentación nacional.

Please link here for more info about the French public consultation process.

Please link here for more info about the Spanish public consultation process.

RTE and REE ensure the highest level of transparency possible, in accordance with national and European legislation. In this regard, public administrations, organisations and individuals may present arguments, at any time during the project’s permitting process. All arguments will be reviewed and answered, and those aspects that are considered viable and relevant from a technical and environmental point of view will be incorporated into the project.

All the necessary information regarding the project, including contact details or ways of participating in public consultations may be found on our website www.inelfe.eu, including several ways of contacting the project team.

The entire project, from Gatika substation to Cubnezais substation, was estimated at 1,95 billion euros when the applications for authorisation were submitted. The European Commission has allocated 578 million euros to the project through its Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) programme, of which 350 million will correspond to France and the remaining 228 to Spain.

The lower amount corresponding to Spain is offset by the benefits that this project entails for this country. In other words, the benefit of the interconnection is slightly superior for the Spanish consumer.

To date, this is the largest grant given by the EU for an energy project of common interest.

RTE and REE will share the investment on an equal basis: 975 million for each one of the two national transmission system operators.

This project is profitable, as both French and Spanish regulators have certified. Its potential benefits outweigh its cost. It will allow the European electrical system to be more efficient with lower costs.

The economic valuation of the actions for the development of the transmission grid has been calculated in accordance with a cost-benefit analysis (CBA) methodology taking into account a global perspective of the electricity system and, in particular, that of the final consumer.

Therefore, the benefit of the transmission grid development for society is evaluated by comparing the cost-benefit ratio associated with the scenarios that contemplate the planning and carrying out of a new action or a set of actions in the transmission grid versus the situation of the not carrying out any developments in the grid.

As required by Regulation (EU) n°347/2013, ENTSO-E has developped a cost-benfit analysis methodology for the evaluation of transport and storage infrastructure projects included in the Ten-Year Network Development Plan (TYNDP). The European Commission has approved this methodology which is the one used for the Bay of Biscay project.

https://www.entsoe.eu/Documents/TYNDP%20documents/Cost%20Benefit%20Analysis/2018-10-11-tyndp-cba-20.pdf

The investment will come partially from the electricity bill, like all electric infrastructures, and partially from the European funds. As mentioned before, the project is profitable and its benefits will exceed its cost. It will help to make electric systems more efficient and it will allow the cheapest energy to circulate more easily. It is needed to invest today to get cleaner energy in the future.

The cable used for the project is designed with a shield, and therefore no electric fields are generated. In addition, the electrical line between France and Spain will be a direct current (DC) one. For this reason, the effects of the magnetic field are even smaller because they are static in nature (0 Hz), that is, with the same characteristic and similar effects as the Earth's magnetic field.

The future line will thus be under every European threshold in terms of EMF.

They will be very limited. The line will be buried in the seabed of the Biscay Gulf and in the land parts of the route, and therefore will have no visual impact. Only the converter stations, at both ends of the interconnection will be visible. That been said, these converter stations will be built close to the existing electricity 400 kV substations and studies are being carried out to achieve the best possible integration into the landscape.

From an economic perspective, INELFE helps major contractors’ needs for subcontracting to meet local companies’ offers as much as allowed by the regulations.

From a social perspective, INELFE will also insert social clauses in its contracts so as to favour social reintegration of long-term job seekers.

Furthermore, the projects undertaken by INELFE integrate themselves into the various areas they affect. INELFE helps highlight these areas through support for cultural, sports and public events.

For instance, the construction of the first electric line (though the Pyrenees) had a positif impact.

Direct local financial benefits in France (to the regional administrative scale in use at the project time Languedoc Roussillon) have been estimated to 37.8 M€. 95 people were employed from local human resources during every phase of the works, from a 3 to 36 months timespan, thanks to public authority’s involvement. 8 people have been hired with a permanent contract by one of the provider and 1 by RTE.

Yes !

The greenhouse gas emissions of interconnection projects are evaluated in a homogeneous way by ENTSOE, the European association of transmission system operators, according to a precise and transparent methodology. According to the latest evaluation based on 2030 scenario:

• The volume of renewable energy curtailment avoided is estimated at 7,431 GWh/year.
• The electrical losses generated by project, in the project itself as well as in the rest of the European network are estimated at 2,576 GWh/year.

Hence, the Greenhouse gases emission of the European electricity System is reduced by 4,855 GWh/year.