New Saguntum 400 kV substation by Red Eléctrica authorized in Sagunto

The Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge has authorized Red Eléctrica de España, SAU to construct the new Saguntum 400 kV substation, with five new positions, in the municipality of Sagunto, in the province of Valencia. The decision corresponds to the General Directorate of Energy Policy and Mines, which signed the resolution on September 3, 2026. The text is published in the Official State Gazette (Boletín Oficial del Estado) no. 238, of September 26, 2026, section III, page 126330, with the official reference BOE-A-2026-19992.

The action aims to improve the security and reliability levels of the Meshed Transmission Grid and, at the same time, support distribution and provide electrical power to the new industrial plants planned in the Parc Sagunt development area. Red Eléctrica submitted the application on June 10, 2025, accompanied by the responsible declaration provided for in article 53.1 of Law 24/2013, of December 26, on the Electricity Sector.

The file was initiated in the Industry and Energy Area of the Government Delegation in the Valencian Community and processed in accordance with Royal Decree 1955/2000, of December 1, Law 21/2013, of December 9, on environmental assessment, and Law 13/2003, of May 23. The action is included in the Electric Energy Transmission Network Development Plan 2021-2026, approved by agreement of the Council of Ministers on March 22, 2022, and modified by the agreement of April 16, 2024.

Technical characteristics of the installation

The 400 kV switchyard of the new substation presents these main characteristics:

• Nominal voltage: 400 kV; highest voltage for equipment (Um): 420 kV.
• AIS technology, outdoor installation, and breaker-and-a-half configuration.
• Short-term short-circuit current: 50 kA.
• Bay 1: positions L/Gaussa 1, Central Bay 1, and one spare.
• Bay 2: positions L/Gaussa 2, Central Bay 2, and transformer ATP1.
• Bay 3: three spare positions, one of them with Central Bay 3 breaker.

The installation also incorporates a bank of single-phase autotransformers with a primary winding voltage of 400 kV, secondary of 230 ± 15% kV, and tertiary of 24 kV, and a nominal power of 600 MVA (3 × 200 MVA).

Reports, conditions, and allegations

The project was submitted for public consultation via an announcement published in the Official State Gazette no. 123, of May 21, 2024, in the Official Gazette of the Province of Valencia no. 103, of May 29, 2024, in the newspapers Las Provincias and Levante – El Mercantil Valenciano on May 23, 2024, and on the notice board of the Sagunto City Council. No allegations were received within the legal period.

Among the consulted bodies, conditions were formulated by the Territorial Risk Management Service, the Landscape Service, and the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage of the Generalitat Valenciana, the Territorial Urban Planning Service of Valencia, the Júcar Hydrographic Confederation, and the Sagunto City Council, all of which were accepted by the promoter. Enagás Transportes, SAU warned that the project was not viable with the current gas pipeline layout; it was agreed to divert the affected section via a new by-pass section, and the company submitted a response of non-opposition with conditions. The General Directorate of Infrastructure and Urban Projects and the General Directorate of Energy and Mines of the Generalitat Valenciana, the Roads Area of the Valencia Provincial Council, the State Roads Demarcation in the Valencian Community, Naturgy Energy Group, SA, and ADIF showed no opposition. The Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, the Sagunto Irrigation Community, Redeia Corporación, SA, Iberdrola, SA, I-DE Redes Inteligentes, SAU, and Espacios Económicos Empresariales, SL (Parc Sagunt) did not respond, therefore their conformity is understood.

The General Directorate of Environmental Quality and Assessment issued an environmental impact statement via a resolution dated May 4, 2026, published in the Official State Gazette (BOE) no. 120, on May 18, 2026. Among the required measures are a prior survey in the SCI area to detect protected flora, including the fern Ophioglossum lusitanicum, and forestry work throughout the forest mass of the Muntanyeta de les Lloses, approximately 10 hectares, due to the permanent loss of around 1 hectare of dense pine forest.

Deadlines and appeal process

The resolution grants the prior administrative authorization and the administrative construction authorization, and accepts the withdrawal of the request for a declaration of public utility. The deadline for the issuance of the operating authorization is twenty-four months from the notification to the petitioner. An administrative appeal (recurso de alzada) may be filed against the resolution, which does not end the administrative process, before the Secretary of State for Energy within one month.

The authorization arrives just ten days after the Official State Gazette published the resolution enabling the 400 kV double-circuit overhead line Gaussa-Saguntum and the by-pass of the Eliana-Gaussa and Morvedre-Gaussa 2 lines (BOE-A-2026-19316, no. 229, of September 16, 2026). Both pieces are complementary: the substation is the connection point for that new line and for the future industrial demand of the region.

The impact of the decision is direct on the productive fabric of Sagunto and its surroundings. The new substation provides electrical capacity to the industrial plants planned for Parc Sagunt, reinforces the reliability of the supply in the area, and consolidates the region as an energy node of the Mediterranean arc, with effects on the attraction of investment and industrial employment.

Source: Official State Gazette, no. 238, of September 26, 2026, section III, page 126330 (official reference: BOE-A-2026-19992).