Red Eléctrica maintains that the power cable through Herradura generates 11 times less impact than through Alcúdia

PalmRed Eléctrica has formally responded to a report, commissioned by the Alcúdia City Council, regarding the project to reinforce the electrical interconnection between the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands. The company again defends the planned route of the submarine cable and contradicts the alternative proposed in the document. In a letter sent to the Industry and Energy Department of the Spanish government delegation, the company disagrees with the study prepared by the Balearic Center for Applied Biology (CBBA), which proposed that the cable reach Mallorca through the center of Alcúdia Bay instead of through La Herradura, in Pollença Bay. The residents affected by the project's route, grouped in the ANCA collective, considered the CBBA's proposed alternative better and criticized the La Herradura option, arguing that it has a greater environmental and human impact. However, Red Eléctrica emphasizes that the alternative proposal would have a much greater impact on the Posidonia seagrass meadows. The company asserts that, according to the same data collected in the CBBA report, the alternative route would affect an area eleven times larger than the chosen solution. The new electrical interconnection project has generated controversy in Alcúdia, especially in recent months. In fact, the ANACA association was formed after another neighborhood group approved the route. Among other arguments, opponents maintain that the route shown in the project (La Ferradura) could affect areas of the Natura 2000 network and environments near the Albufera lagoon, in addition to crossing residential areas and roads near homes. They have also argued that there are alternatives with less environmental impact, such as laying the cable through the center of the Bay of Alcúdia and reducing the land section. These criticisms prompted the Alcúdia City Council to commission an independent report from the CBBA to analyze alternatives to the planned route. It is this study that Red Eléctrica extensively questions in its response. The company points out that Posidonia oceanica is "a priority habitat under European environmental regulations and that any project that causes significant damage to areas within the Natura 2000 network could be rejected by European institutions." In this regard, it maintains that the Herradura inlet is the solution that minimizes the impact on the seagrass meadows. To support this position, Red Eléctrica asserts that it has conducted a marine survey with detailed geophysical, geotechnical, and environmental studies that have allowed for the creation of a precise map of the seabed in the bays of Alcúdia and Pollença. According to the company, this map has a resolution of one meter and, in the case of the final cable route, reaches twenty centimeters, parameters that provide high definition when taking measurements.

However, it criticizes the CCBA report for relying on isolated observations with a robotic underwater vehicle rather than comprehensive mapping of the seabed. Red Eléctrica asserts that some of the points analyzed in the study do not even coincide with the actual route of the project.

Criticism of "technically unfeasible" proposals

The document rejects other aspects of the alternative proposed in the report commissioned by the City Council. The study suggested using the cooling pipes of the Murterar thermal power plant to install the electrical cables. Red Eléctrica maintains that this option is technically unfeasible, as the facilities do not meet the safety requirements for high-voltage cables, which demand specific accessibility, ventilation, and protection systems. The company also rejects the proposal to leave the cables on the seabed to reduce the impact on the Posidonia seagrass. It argues that this solution would pose a high risk because anchors and fishing activities could damage them. In fact, it recalls that the first cable between Mallorca and Menorca suffered damage due to an anchor, which temporarily disconnected Menorca from the Balearic electrical grid. The document is a response to the Alcúdia City Council's report as part of the project's administrative process. In this regard, Red Eléctrica indicates that it accepts the City Council's conclusions regarding urban planning and the affected municipal services and commits to complying with the technical conditions established by the municipal technicians. The City Council had warned that one of the municipal plots designated for temporary occupation is currently used as a materials warehouse. The company says it is willing to coordinate to ensure the use of this space is compatible with the construction work. Despite local opposition, the company maintains that the entry point through La Herradura and the route to the Sant Martí substation were agreed upon in an institutional working group that included representatives from the Ministry for Ecological Transition, the Government, the Consell de Mallorca, the Alcúdia City Council, and the local residents' platform. In the same document, Red Eléctrica notes that the specific project for the electrical interconnection between Mallorca and Menorca—which will connect the Sant Martí substation in Alcúdia with the Lithica substation in Menorca—is currently in the public consultation phase following the publication of the announcement in the Official State Gazette on March 3. This procedure allows public administrations and citizens to submit comments before the Ministry for Ecological Transition decides on the environmental impact statement and the administrative authorizations for the project.