Environmental green light for the 2025-2030 electricity grid plan

The General Directorate for Quality and Environmental Evaluation has formulated the strategic environmental statement for the Electric Power Transmission Network Development Plan 2025-2030, by means of the resolution of November 3, 2026, published in the Official State Gazette (Boletín Oficial del Estado) no. 282, of November 12, 2026 (reference BOE-A-2026-23737). The environmental body concludes that the plan, incorporating the measures of the strategic environmental study and the determinations of the statement itself, will not produce significant adverse impacts on the environment.

The plan is the binding planning instrument that establishes the necessary electricity transmission infrastructures until 2030, in accordance with Article 4 of Law 24/2013, of December 26, on the Electricity Sector, and Chapter II of Royal Decree 1955/2000. Its preparation began with Order TED/1375/2023, of December 21, and provides continuity to the 2021-2026 plan, approved by agreement of the Council of Ministers on March 22, 2022, and modified in April 2024 and July 2025. The substantive and promoting body is the General Directorate for Energy Policy and Mines of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO).

The reference framework is the updated National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan (PNIEC), which for 2030 forecasts an annual gross electricity demand of 344.0 TWh—33% more than the 2026 scenario of the current planning—and a peak of 53,794 MW, which is 15% higher. The projected gross generation reaches 422.4 TWh, of which 81% must come from renewable sources.

A network with 1,420 projects and 9,357 kilometers of new lines

The plan distributes 54 actions across 1,420 specific infrastructure projects, according to the breakdown included in the resolution:

• 135 new substations or converter stations.
• 421 new power lines.
• 171 actions on existing lines and 221 actions in substations.
• 461 substation expansions.

The network figures are equally extensive: actions are taken on 10,127 kilometers of lines, 22% of the current transmission network, with the upgrading of 5,600 kilometers of circuits, dynamic line rating (DLR) monitoring systems in 211 kilometers, conductor replacement in 2,378 kilometers, and renovation in 1,963 kilometers. The projected new lines total approximately 9,357 kilometers, of which 490 are submarine links, 357 correspond to the two interconnections with France, and 538 to other underground cables.

The stated objectives involve integrating new renewable generation at the pace required by the PNIEC, addressing international interconnections and those with non-peninsular territories, reducing technical restrictions, guaranteeing security of supply, facilitating storage and the connection of new entities, and addressing industrial decarbonization and territorial cohesion.

Two years of public information and consultations with Portugal, France, and Andorra

The declaration comes after the ordinary processing, which has accumulated milestones since 2024:

• Request for initiation by the substantive body on August 21, 2024, and scoping document approved on January 15, 2025.
• Public information announcement in the BOE no. 243, of October 9, 2025, with consultations until December 16, 2025.
• Entry of the file into the environmental body on August 3, 2026.
• Cross-border consultations with Portugal, which expressed interest in participating on December 23, 2025, and notification to France; communication to Andorra on October 22, 2025.
• Request for an addendum to the strategic environmental study on September 15, 2026, addressed on September 24.

The strategic environmental study analyzed 365 planning instruments, grouped into 30 of national or community scope, and detected synergies with the Long-term Decarbonization Strategy 2050, the National Climate Change Adaptation Plan 2021-2030, and the National Air Pollution Control Program 2023-2030.

Fifteen determinations: biodiversity, steppe avifauna, and undergrounding in the Canary Islands

The resolution incorporates fifteen environmental determinations complementary to the promoter’s commitments. Among them are the inclusion of the “net zero impact on biodiversity” objective, the limitation of annual SF6 leaks in substations to below 5%, a specific indicator to fight depopulation—with substations in municipalities of fewer than 5,000 inhabitants—and a climate change adaptation indicator for the infrastructures.

The environmental body upgrades the impact of wildlife habitat loss to significant, contrary to the promoter’s initial criterion, and demands a quantitative objective for the steppe habitat within a 10-kilometer radius of the new substations. It also asks to reconsider the total or partial undergrounding of 132 kV and 66 kV overhead lines in the island systems, focusing on three actions pointed out by the Government of the Canary Islands: the 66 kV Haría-Punta Grande-Tías line, the Antigua substation and 132 kV line in Fuerteventura, and the Goro substation and 66 kV lines in Gran Canaria.

The resolution is signed by the Director General of Environmental Quality and Evaluation, Marta Gómez Palenque. Pursuant to Article 26 of Law 21/2013, of December 9, on environmental assessment, the promoter must incorporate the declaration into the plan and submit it for approval by the substantive body, which will send the documentation to the BOE within ten business days.

The environmental unlocking comes at a decisive moment for renewable deployment: without this declaration, the binding grid planning could not complete its processing and the new connection nodes remained in limbo. The text also establishes the conditions that specific projects must meet, from bird diverters on overhead lines to precautions regarding steppe habitats and protected marine areas, such that the development of the grid and the generation facilities that depend on it are subject to reinforced environmental scrutiny.

Source: Official State Gazette, no. 282, of November 12, 2026, Sec. III, page 152785 (official reference: BOE-A-2026-23737).