EIB invests €1.6 billion into 2.2GW Spain-France interconnector

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email
The Spain-France interconnector signing ceremony.
‘EIB support for the France-Spain electricity interconnection will be key to ensuring that the Iberian Peninsula is no longer an energy island,’ said Nadia Calviño, president of the EIB Group, second row, centre. Image: EIB.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) will invest €1.6 billion (US$1.85 billion) to support the construction of the Bay of Biscay interconnector, which will increase the electrical exchange capacity between France and Spain by 2.2GW.

The project will consist of more than 400km of connection infrastructure, including subsea cables and transformer stations in both Spain and France, and will increase the exchange capacity of the two countries’ grids from 2.8GW to 5GW. Inelfe, a joint venture between French and Spanish transmission system operators RTE and Red Eléctrica, has already started construction on the interconnector, and it expects the project to be operational by 2028.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Try Premium for just $1

  • Full premium access for the first month at only $1
  • Converts to an annual rate after 30 days unless cancelled
  • Cancel anytime during the trial period

Premium Benefits

  • Expert industry analysis and interviews
  • Digital access to PV Tech Power journal
  • Exclusive event discounts

Or get the full Premium subscription right away

Or continue reading this article for free

At a ceremony in Luxembourg yesterday, representatives from the EIB, RTE and Red Eléctrica signed agreements for the first €1.2 billion of the loan. The project will be partially funded by a Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) grant of €578 million.  

“EIB support for the France-Spain electricity interconnection will be key to ensuring that the Iberian Peninsula is no longer an energy island,” said Nadia Calviño, president of the EIB Group. “This agreement will lead to a major shift in energy integration, an important area for EU competitiveness and strategic autonomy.”

The announcement follows a blackout on the Iberian grid in April that saw 2.2GW of capacity lost in 20 seconds. Considering Spain’s increasing reliance on renewable energy – figures from Red Eléctrica show that renewable energy was responsible for 56% of Spain’s electricity generation in 2024 – ensuring Spain, in particular, has resilient grid is an important proof of concept for the European renewable energy sector.

“Spain, for example, right now is the prime example of getting close to saturation when it comes to corporate deals and renewable additions in general,” Nayel Brihi, corporate sustainability analyst at BloombergNEF, told PV Tech at this year’s Renewables Procurement and Revenue summit, held in London. “That could prompt both sellers and buyers to maybe take a step back and diversify their portfolios.”

Grid resilience is an increasing priority for Europe as a whole, too. EU member states, for instance, have a target to install interconnectors to cover at least 15% of domestic electricity generation capacity by 2030, amid the growing threat of curtailment. A report from Aurora Energy Research found that, between 2022 and 2024, the number of “remedial actions” taken on Europe’s grid, including curtailment, had jumped by 14.5%.

2 December 2025
Málaga, Spain
Understanding PV module supply to the European market in 2026. PV ModuleTech Europe 2025 is a two-day conference that tackles these challenges directly, with an agenda that addresses all aspects of module supplier selection; product availability, technology offerings, traceability of supply-chain, factory auditing, module testing and reliability, and company bankability.

Read Next

September 4, 2025
Gavin Newsom has signed an executive order to accelerate the permitting of energy generation projects that could be set to lose IRA support.
September 3, 2025
Chinese solar manufacturer Trinasolar has signed a patent licence agreement with French module manufacturing startup Holosolis to use its TOPCon solar cell technology.
September 2, 2025
Q Energy has reached financial close for Taurus B, a portfolio of seven solar PV plants in Spain with a combined capacity of 251.71MWp.
September 2, 2025
Iberdrola has commissioned the 316MW Ciudad Rodrigo solar project in Salamanca, Spain, the company’s second solar plant in the province.
September 1, 2025
Solar Organic Centro España is planning to build a 10GW solar module and battery manufacturing facility in the Spanish autonomous community of Castilla-La Mancha.
Premium
August 18, 2025
Jonathan Touriño Jacobo explores evidence of systemic problems in the Iberian grid and some of the solutions following the blackout.

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Solar Media Events
September 16, 2025
Athens, Greece
Solar Media Events
September 30, 2025
Seattle, USA
Solar Media Events
October 1, 2025
London, UK
Solar Media Events
October 2, 2025
London,UK
Solar Media Events
October 7, 2025
Manila, Philippines