Spain-Morocco Power Link Leak Detected; Service Unaffected, Says REE

After detecting the problem, Red Eléctrica de España (REE) and the National Office of Electricity and Drinking Water (ONEE) of Morocco, owners of 50% of this pipeline, have precisely searched for the part from which the leak is coming in order to proceed with its repair.

The two companies are "obtaining the necessary authorizations" to move a ship to the area, about 4.5 kilometers off the Moroccan coast, "as soon as possible in order to locate the breakdown," notes REE.

REE’s protection systems detected the fluid leak in the number four reserve cable of the electrical interconnection linking Spain to Morocco.

This electrical interconnection between Spain and Morocco consists of two 400 kV lines commissioned in 1997 and 2006, and made up of seven cables: three for each circuit, and one held in reserve.

The seven cables start from the Tarifa terminal station, on the Spanish border, to the Fardioua terminal station, on the Moroccan border.

The insulating fluid is biodegradable and, according to a study carried out by the Andalusian Center for Marine Science and Technology of the University of Cadiz, in January 2017, it is not harmful to marine and human health.

The company assures that the continuity of the electrical supply of the interconnection has never been compromised thanks to its double circuit.

After detecting the leak, the Internal Maritime Plan of the interconnection was activated in the alert phase (phase 0) and the incident was communicated to the Spanish maritime authorities and to all the authorities and groups concerned.