Nexans named preferred supplier for Mallorca-Menorca power link

Nexans said on 22 October that Red Eléctrica had selected it as preferred supplier for the Mallorca-Menorca 3 electricity interconnection project in Spain’s Balearic Islands. Red Eléctrica is the Redeia subsidiary responsible for the Spanish transmission system. Nexans says the tender terms provide for a six-month collaborative engineering phase for a new link. The announcement describes that phase as preparation for a future EPCI contract; it does not announce a signed EPCI contract for construction of the complete cable system.

The planned connection is a 132-kilovolt HVAC link between Mallorca and Menorca, with subsea and land cable infrastructure. Nexans says the engineering work will cover a comprehensive cable system. The release does not state the final route, cable length, contract value, manufacturing volume or completion date. Technical details beyond the voltage and the phase duration therefore remain unspecified in the announcement.

The company says the six-month engineering phase is intended to lead toward project delivery beginning in mid-2027. Those are future steps subject to the tender and project schedule. They should not be read as completed design, manufacturing, cable-laying or commissioning activity. The release describes joint development of the engineering and preparation for a later implementation stage with Red Eléctrica.

Nexans previously contributed to the existing electricity connection between Mallorca and Menorca. It presents the new project as a next stage in that system and a continuation of a long-standing relationship between the companies. The announcement gives no measured performance data for the current link or capacity figure for the new one. A further connection could strengthen the islands’ network relationship, but no numerical transmission-capacity or service-reliability target is provided.

Nexans and Red Eléctrica say the project is intended to strengthen security and resilience of electricity supply in the Balearic Islands. Nexans says Menorca’s dependence on fossil-fuel power generation will fall significantly after the new link is delivered. This is a project sponsor’s expected outcome, not a measured emissions reduction or operating result. The eventual effect on the generation mix will depend on commissioning and the island’s power system.

The release also says environmental stewardship will receive attention during planning and execution in an ecologically sensitive project area. It does not disclose environmental-assessment findings, permits, affected habitats or monitoring indicators. Nexans states an intention to address the issue; the announcement is not independent evidence of environmental approval or of the acceptability of impacts.

Preferred-supplier status comes before later tender and contracting steps. The commitment explicitly described now is the six-month engineering phase; signing a future EPCI contract and starting delivery in mid-2027 are intended next steps. Because the source is a company announcement, the absence of a disclosed contract value and final construction scope also matters. The development is therefore a project-preparation milestone, distinct from a completed construction award.