Interconnections for South-West Europe

In order to enhance the integration of the Iberian Peninsula energy markets with the rest of Europe, the regional high level group for South-West Europe on interconnections was set up in 2015.

The establishment of the high level group follows the signing of the Madrid Declaration in 2015, by the President of France, the Prime Minister of Spain, the Prime Minister of Portugal and the President of the European Commission. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed in June, 2015, in Paris.

An implementation plan of the Madrid Declaration was adopted to ensure that key projects will be swiftly carried out. The plan is a long-term strategy, which will be updated in accordance with the group’s work and progress.

The group includes representatives from the European Commission, ministries, transmission system operators and national regulatory authorities in France, Spain, and Portugal.

The overall objective of the group is to ensure regular monitoring of the progress of the key infrastructure projects identified in the Madrid Declaration.

It also aims to provide adequate support to avoid potential delays in the implementation of the projects.

To integrate the Iberian Peninsula the group aims to

• raise the capacity of electricity exchanges between Spain and France to 8000 MW in 2020
• carry out assessments in order to complete the Eastern gas axis between Portugal, Spain and France
• ensure that the projects identified in the Madrid Declaration are implemented in a timely manner

• Technical memo: Integration of the Iberian Peninsula into the internal energy market (27 July 2018)
• Study: Cost benefit analysis of STEP, as first phase of MIDCAT (April 2018)