Nexans has been selected as preferred supplier for the proposed Mallorca–Menorca 3 interconnection, a 132 kV alternating current link between Spain’s Balearic islands. Its appointment provides for an initial engineering phase with transmission operator Red Eléctrica, but is not yet a signed engineering, procurement, construction and installation contract for the cable system.
The agreement covers an initial engineering phase expected to last six months once the relevant arrangement is executed. The programme is intended to establish the basis for a subsequent engineering, procurement, construction and installation contract, commonly abbreviated to EPCI. Nexans says project delivery is envisaged to begin in the middle of 2027, subject to the planned contractual steps.
Red Eléctrica, part of the Redeia group, operates Spain’s electricity transmission system and is developing the new connection to reinforce security of supply on Menorca. The island is already electrically connected to Mallorca, but a further transmission route would allow more electricity to pass between the two systems and reduce dependence on local fossil fuel generation when operating conditions permit.
Red Eléctrica’s February 2026 public consultation documents describe an approximately 82-kilometre route between a proposed Sant Martí 132 kV substation at Alcúdia on Mallorca and a proposed Lithica substation at Ciutadella on Menorca. The preliminary alignment has 64.5 kilometres beneath the sea, 13.7 kilometres underground on Mallorca and 3.8 kilometres on Menorca, reaching water depths of up to about 146 metres. These are the transmission operator’s proposed route figures, not final lengths confirmed by Nexans.
The project application published through Spain’s official gazette describes a proposed circuit transfer rating of 118 MVA. It also sets out cable and landfall specifications for the environmental and administrative review. Those details provide a technical basis for the project at consultation stage, but should not be treated as an approved final design or a cable manufacturing order placed with Nexans.
At a nominal network voltage of 132 kV, the proposed submarine section uses alternating current. The public application specifies a three-core submarine cable design with cross-linked polyethylene insulation and an aluminium conductor arrangement, together with fibre optic elements. That level of design detail comes from Red Eléctrica’s regulatory submission; Nexans has not confirmed a final conductor cross-section, fabrication configuration or reactive power compensation package under a delivery contract.
Installation planning must account for the route’s seabed conditions, the transition between underwater and land cables and the methods used to protect the connection. The public application identifies seabed laying or burial, with differing protection depths according to whether the ground is rock, sand or clay, and a horizontally drilled sea exit. These details are proposed construction methods pending the necessary authorisations and any design changes during collaborative engineering.
Coastal impact has influenced the route selection. Red Eléctrica says the preliminary alignment and landfall were chosen to reduce disruption to Posidonia oceanica seagrass, reef habitats and fisheries. On land, sections alongside established road corridors are proposed where feasible. Such mitigations remain subject to the project’s environmental assessment and conditions rather than representing completed installation work.
The connection is being planned alongside the separate Peninsular–Balearic Pen-Bal 2 project. Red Eléctrica’s February project description says elements of the offshore exit and onshore route on Mallorca were coordinated between the two schemes. Shared planning does not mean the links carry the same voltage, serve the same destinations or form one equipment contract.
The existing Mallorca–Menorca interconnection must also be distinguished from the newly proposed cable. Red Eléctrica describes the earlier operational link as a 132 kV subsea route of about 41.7 kilometres, with additional onshore sections. Its published engineering and environmental details belong to that earlier project and should not be transferred to Mallorca–Menorca 3, which has a different route and projected length.
The prospective Nexans scope encompasses subsea and land cable engineering, using its experience of manufacturing and installation. Nexans has not reported the value of an EPCI award or a contracted start date for cable production. Spain’s earlier public project application states an overall estimated project budget, but that estimate must not be confused with revenue awarded to Nexans under its preferred supplier appointment.
The broader Balearic electricity programme is intended to give Menorca greater access to generation elsewhere in the interconnected system. Red Eléctrica’s earlier technical projections include reduced use of the island’s thermal power plant and increased ability to accommodate renewable electricity, but these are expected benefits of a completed and operating connection rather than present reductions in fuel consumption or emissions.
The next step is the six-month collaborative engineering phase envisaged by Red Eléctrica’s tender, which would establish the basis for a possible EPCI signature and delivery from mid-2027. Administrative approvals and subsequent commercial agreements remain relevant to the timetable. The supplier selection therefore establishes a preferred position in a proposed interconnection, not a completed procurement of cable or an operational electricity link.
