Spain leads solar production in Europe, but its geography condemns it to isolation. The Iberian Peninsula, with an insufficient electrical connection through the Pyrenees, functions as an energy island. This bottleneck prevents exporting the renewable surplus. To break this siege, Spain and Ireland have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to study a submarine cable up to 1,100 kilometers between the Asturian coast and southern Ireland, a route that redefines supply flows in the Atlantic. 🌍
3D visualization of the route and simulation of export flows ⚡
Our 3D visualization of the submarine corridor shows the route from the port of El Musel (Gijón) to County Cork, skirting the continental slope of the Bay of Biscay. By overlaying the European electricity interconnection map, it is observed that Spain's exchange capacity with France barely reaches 2,800 MW, well below the 15% interconnection target set by the EU. The simulation of solar export scenarios indicates that this cable, with an estimated capacity of 2 GW, could channel 10% of the peninsular photovoltaic surplus towards Ireland and, from there, to the British and Central European market, avoiding saturation of the French border.
The risk map of a peninsula that wants to stop being an island 🗺️
Spain's energy dependence is not only on fossil fuels, but also on connection infrastructure. The geographical bottleneck of the Pyrenees turns the peninsula into a blind spot in the European electricity supply chain. This cable is not just an engineering work; it is a geopolitical correction. By opening a direct maritime route, Spain ceases to be an energy island to become an Atlantic export node, reducing its vulnerability to cuts in the continental grid and revaluing its solar production as a strategic asset for the EU's security of supply.
How the new 1000 km submarine cable affects Spain's energy dependence and the geopolitical balance of electricity supply in Europe
(PS: geopolitics in 3D looks so good it makes you want to invade countries just to see it rendered)