Expansion of the Cabra substation with a synchronous condenser authorized

The Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge has authorized Red Eléctrica de España SAU to expand the Cabra substation, in the province of Córdoba, through the installation of a synchronous condenser in the 400 kV switchyard. The resolution, signed on September 2, 2026, by the Director General for Energy Policy and Mines, Manuel García Hernández, is published in the Official Gazette of the Province of Córdoba no. 185, dated September 24, 2026, with the official reference BOP-A-2026-3094. The action has been declared urgent and is part of the Electric Energy Transmission Network Development Plan 2021-2026.

The resolution from the Directorate General for Energy Policy and Mines, under the Secretary of State for Energy, jointly grants the prior administrative authorization and the administrative construction authorization. Red Eléctrica submitted the application on April 1, 2026, and completed it on April 17, 2026, to install a synchronous condenser in the substation’s current 400 kV switchyard and equip a new bay.

The action is included in the Agreement of the Council of Ministers of July 8, 2025, which incorporates the list of actions from the Transmission Network Development Plan 2021-2026 aimed at increasing network resilience, published via Resolution of the Secretary of State for Energy of July 10, 2025 (Official State Gazette no. 168, dated July 14, 2025).

Urgent processing and without environmental assessment

The urgent nature of the action has two direct consequences detailed in the resolution. On one hand, the deadlines provided for in Article 53 of Law 24/2013, of December 26, on the electricity sector, are reduced by half. On the other, since it is located in a substation already in service and falls under the jurisdiction of the General State Administration, the installation is excluded from the environmental assessment procedure of Law 21/2013, of December 9.

The file was initiated in the Industry and Energy Department of the Government Sub-delegation in Córdoba and processed in accordance with Royal Decree 1955/2000, of December 1, and Law 13/2003, of May 23, regulating public works concession contracts. The request was submitted for public consultation via an announcement published in the Official State Gazette no. 104, dated April 29, 2026, and in the Official Gazette of the Province of Córdoba no. 86, dated May 6, 2026, without any objections being received.

Technical characteristics of the installation

The Cabra substation maintains its current configuration and adds the new equipment in the 400 kV switchyard:

• Nominal voltage: 400 kV.
• Highest voltage for equipment (Um): 420 kV.
• Technology: AIS.
• Installation: conventional outdoor.
• Configuration: breaker-and-a-half.
• Short-time short-circuit current: 50 kA.
• Synchronous condenser: rated power of 250 MVA and inertia of 6 seconds, located in bay 3 of the substation.

Favorable reports from administrations and agencies

The resolution details the responses received during the processing, all of which were favorable or without opposition:

• Guadalquivir Hydrographic Confederation, O.A., and the Urban Planning Service of the Territorial Delegation of Development, Territorial Articulation and Housing in Córdoba of the Regional Government of Andalusia, without opposition.
• State Aviation Safety Agency (AESA), which processes file PRE26-4052 and finds no impact from aeronautical easements as the installation does not reach 100 meters in height.
• Cabra City Council, which reports favorably with technical conditions, and Lucena City Council, which finds no incompatibilities.
• Roads Service and Cultural Heritage Service of the corresponding Territorial Delegation in Córdoba, with conditions accepted by the company.
• Livestock Paths Section of the Regional Government of Andalusia, whose report, received belatedly, is favorable.

The Regulatory Supervision Chamber of the National Commission on Markets and Competition reported favorably on the proposal on July 30, 2026, in file INF/DE/166/26. The Industry and Energy Department had issued its report on July 8, 2026.

Deadlines and appeal process

The annex of the resolution establishes that the deadline for the issuance of the operating authorization will be twenty-four months from the notification to the petitioner, and requires the holder to communicate the completion of the works to the competent provincial body. Against the resolution, which does not end the administrative route, an administrative appeal (recurso de alzada) may be filed before the holder of the Secretary of State for Energy within one month.

The expansion reinforces the transmission network in the south of Córdoba with equipment that provides inertia and stability to the electrical system, in a context of increasing penetration of renewable generation. The declaration of urgency and the exemption from environmental assessment shorten the procedures, such that commissioning could occur within a two-year horizon from the notification.

Source: Official Gazette of the Province of Córdoba, no. 185, of September 24, 2026, section III - General State Administration, pp. 13865-13869 (official reference: BOP-A-2026-3094).