The Spanish government said on Tuesday that Spain guarantees “security of electricity supply” to Portugal and France and that energy exports to these two countries prove the importance of more energy interconnections in the European Union.
According to data from the Spanish government, 35% of the electricity consumed in Portugal in October was imported from Spain as a result of the drought affecting hydropower production, while sales to France have also skyrocketed since January due to the cessation of French nuclear power plants.
The increase in electricity exports to Portugal and France boosted the use of natural gas in Spain in August and September, months in which measures have already been taken to save energy consumption, Spanish minister Teresa Ribera said in a press release in Madrid on Tuesday. conference at the end of the Council of Ministers.
Natural gas is used as a source for electricity production and if the value of exports is not taken into account, consumption would have fallen, Teresa Ribera assured, stressing that domestic electricity demand in Spain increased by 4.6 in August and September. % has fallen, coinciding with “the hottest summer ever”.
The minister, who has the energy portfolio in the Spanish government, believed that these figures for electricity exports are a “very important message” for “the European debate” that is going on around energy.
“This shows security in the electricity supply that is sometimes forgotten in this context. Spain guarantees the security of the electricity supply”he said.
Teresa Ribera defended that “Europe understands that its energy security largely depends on sharing and interconnection between different countries” and right now we are talking “gas interconnection or energy security threatened by the difficulty of accessing natural gas in central and northern Europe”, “but these figures show the degree of security of electricity supply” Portugal and, to a lesser extent, France “fundamentally depend on this sharing of infrastructure”.
“We have no problem accessing natural gas, but other countries do. But in addition, in certain circumstances it can be difficult to ensure the electricity supply and only good interconnection between countries allows us to respond flexibly to these needs “he added.
Portugal and Spain have pushed for increasing interconnections between the Iberian Peninsula and the rest of Europe for energy transport, such as the construction of a new gas pipeline in the Pyrenees, suitable for gas and hydrogen, which France opposes.
The Iberian Peninsula, lacking connections to the rest of Europe, operates as an “energy island” and Portugal and Spain have developed a supply infrastructure that they say can now be used as a gateway for gas into Europe, if alternative to Russian gas.
Source: DN
