• The link would be similar to the two currently in service, 400 kilovolts in alternating current and each with a technical capacity of 700 MW.
• The planned investment would amount to around 150 million euros, of which 75 million correspond to Spain.
• This interconnection could produce additional revenues for the Spanish electricity system of some 140 million euros, derived from transmission tolls and congestion rents.

Spain and Morocco have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to build a third electricity interconnection cable between both countries. The agreement entrusts Red Eléctrica de España (REE) and its Moroccan counterpart L'Office National de l'Électricité et de l'Eau Potable (ONEE) with the study and analysis of the project, whose commissioning should be ready before 2026.

In this memorandum, signed within the framework of the visit that the King and Queen of Spain have made to this neighbouring country, a second collaboration agreement has been added to establish a strategic partnership in the field of energy and whose objectives will focus on the integration of energy grids and markets, the development of renewable energy and energy efficiency. The achievement of these objectives will contribute to the transformation of the electricity scenario, which is necessary for the energy transition.

In order to launch this partnership, an Energy Partnership Committee will be created, co-chaired by those responsible for energy matters in Spain and Morocco, which will include representatives of public and private entities from both countries.

According to the technical studies carried out by Red Eléctrica de España, this link would be similar to those currently in service, 400 kilovolts in alternating current and each with a technical capacity of 700 MW; and the commercial exchange capacity, which must be measured as a whole, would amount to 1,500 MW, as it is necessary to subtract in the order of 600 MW as a support margin for the system. With regard to the investment, this would amount around 150 million euros, of which 75 million correspond to Spain.

Savings for the Spanish electricity system of around 140 million euros

This interconnection could produce additional revenues for the Spanish electricity system of around 140 million euros, derived from transmission tolls and congestion rents, as an auction system for the management of the exchange capacity could be implemented, as currently exists with France and Portugal. Interconnection capacity auctions are a tool through which market agents (generators and traders) bid to acquire energy transmission rights from one country to another in order to guarantee a stable price for such energy exchange.

The construction of this third link between Spain and Morocco is the natural system reinforcement that the energy transition is demanding in order to connect Europe with Africa, as it will enable the integration of renewable energy into the European system, mainly photovoltaic, derived from the ambitious solar energy development plan that Morocco has in place, which in turn will result in the reduction of the marginal price of electricity in the Spanish market.