Spain and Portugal are urging the European Union to fast-track stalled cross-border power infrastructure projects following one of the most severe blackouts in Europe’s recent history, which hit the Iberian Peninsula last month.
In a joint letter to EU Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen, Spain’s Ecological Transition Minister Sara Aagesen and Portugal’s Energy Minister Maria da Graça Carvalho called for a “renewed political impetus” to enhance electrical interconnections between the Iberian Peninsula and France.
“The outage showed the importance of interconnectivity within the European electricity system in critical situations,” the ministers wrote.
Spain and Portugal share a closely integrated energy grid but remain heavily dependent on a limited number of connections to the broader European network through France. According to the letter, despite some progress, these links remain insufficient and pose a vulnerability to the entire region.
The ministers urged the European Commission to “accelerate the completion” of long-delayed infrastructure projects, stressing that strong “political and financial commitment” is essential to fully integrate the Iberian Peninsula into the EU’s energy system.
Although no official explanation has been issued for the blackout, Lisbon and Madrid have consistently accused France of dragging its feet on new cross-border connections. On Monday, Portugal’s Energy Minister Carvalho openly accused Paris of delaying construction of energy connections to protect their own nuclear-generated energy market from the cheaper Iberian energy.
