Red Eléctrica de España has already begun its connection plan for electrical supply between the mainland and Ceuta, starting from the Campo de Gibraltar and crossing the Strait. The plan includes the installation of an underground cable between a substation in San Roque and the tip of Torre Nueva in La Línea, from where the underwater link to Ceuta begins.
The Official Gazette of the Andalusian Regional Government (BOJA) published on Friday the agreement of the Territorial Delegation of Sustainability, Environment, and Blue Economy in Cádiz, which opens a period of public information (20 business days from the day following its publication) regarding the application for the occupation concession of assets of the maritime-land public domain by Red Eléctrica de España (REE).
The project, called "New double-circuit submarine power link between the Algeciras substation (Cádiz) and the Virgen de África substation (Ceuta) at 132 kV," is the same project that faced significant opposition from local residents in both La Línea, where the construction of a substation was initially proposed, and Puente Mayorga in San Roque, where the project originates from the existing substation called "Algeciras" and will be expanded within the already occupied land.
Thus, the project involves connecting from the aforementioned "Algeciras" substation in San Roque through a nine-kilometer underground cable to the tip of Torre Nueva on the beach of La Línea. From there, the submarine section consists of two circuits, stretching approximately 58.14 kilometers for circuit 1 and 56.19 kilometers for circuit 2, until reaching the Chorrillo beach in Ceuta. Additionally, there is an additional 1.6-kilometer underground section leading to the new Virgen de África substation in the autonomous city.
Timeline-wise, according to Red Eléctrica's established plan, civil works are scheduled to begin in January 2024 and conclude in July 2025. As for the underground cables, their installation is expected to take place over a one-year period between October 2024 and October 2025. Simultaneously, the laying of the submarine cable and its connection to the underground section is planned from January 2025 to October of the same year. Acceptance testing would occur in November 2025, and the restoration of the public domain area is anticipated from October 2025 to March 2026.