Cometa (HVDC)
Undersea electric power transmission system
title: "Cometa (HVDC)" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["electric-power-infrastructure-in-spain", "hvdc-transmission-lines", "energy-infrastructure-completed-in-2012", "2012-establishments-in-spain"] description: "Undersea electric power transmission system" topic_path: "geography/spain" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cometa_(HVDC)" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Undersea electric power transmission system ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox power transmission line"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Cometa |
| map | |
| map_caption | Location of Cometa |
| country | Spain |
| start | Morvedre |
| finish | Santa Ponsa |
| owner | Red Eléctrica de España |
| cable_manufacturer | Prysmian |
| Nexans | |
| cable_installer | Prysmian |
| Nexans | |
| cable_layer | C/S Giulio Verne |
| C/S Nexans Skagerrak | |
| substation_manufacturer | Siemens |
| contractors | Trenching: |
| est | Aug 2012 |
| type | submarine cable |
| current_type | HVDC |
| length_km | 247 |
| capacity | 400 MW |
| AC_voltage | 230 kV |
| DC_voltage | 250 kV |
| poles_no | 2 |
| :: |
| name = Cometa | photo = | caption = | map = | map_caption = Location of Cometa | country = Spain | state = | province = | coordinates = | lat = | long = | direction = | start = Morvedre | through = | finish = Santa Ponsa | par = | owner = Red Eléctrica de España | partners = | operator = | cable_manufacturer= Prysmian Nexans | cable_installer= Prysmian Nexans | cable_layer = C/S Giulio Verne C/S Nexans Skagerrak | substation_manufacturer= Siemens | substation_installer= | contractors = Trenching: | construction= | expected = | est = Aug 2012 | decom = | type = submarine cable | current_type= HVDC | length_km = 247 | capacity = 400 MW | AC_voltage = 230 kV | DC_voltage = 250 kV | poles_no = 2 | circuits_no =
COMETA (abbreviation for COnexión** ME**diterránea Transporte Alta tensión; also known as the Majorca–Valencia interconnector and the Romulus project) is an undersea electric power transmission system between mainland Spain and the island of Majorca. It connects Morvedre near Valencia and Santa Ponsa near Palma de Mallorca. The project was developed by Red Electrica de España. The project aims were to connect the Balearic Islands with the Spanish peninsular grid, providing a better electrical supply to the two isolated Balearic grids.
History
On 26 September 2007, contracts between Red Electrica de España and the cable manufacturers Nexans and Prysmian were signed. | url = http://www.nexans.com/eservice/Corporate-en/navigatepub_142507_-12311/Nexans_wins_146_million_euros_order_for_high_volta.html | title = Nexans wins 146 million euros order for high voltage submarine link between Spanish mainland and Balearic Islands | publisher = Nexans | date = 2007-09-26 | accessdate = 2011-01-30}} On 9 October 2007, a contract with Siemens was signed for supplying two converter stations. | url = http://www.energy.siemens.com/us/pool/hq/power-transmission/HVDC/HVDC-Classic/pm-pdf/pm-1-COMETA.pdf | title = Siemens connects Majorca to power grid on the Spanish mainland | publisher = Siemens | date = 2007-10-09 | accessdate = 2011-01-30}}
The laying of the first cable started on 13 January 2011 and the laying of the second cable started on 27 January 2011. The first cable was laid by the cable ship Giulio Verne and the second cable was laid by the cable ship Nexans Skagerrak. Trenching was done by waterjet from the Multipurpose Supply Vessel (MPSV) Edda Fjord and dredger Argo I.
COMETA became operational in early 2012, initially at reduced capacity then fully from August 2012. The total cost of the project was €375 million. During the first operational quarter, the Spanish grid operator estimated that the connection would mean 25 million €/year in savings, due to more efficient supply to the islands and less carbon rights.
It is planned to extend the connection to Ibiza and Formentera with a second underwater cable, (115 km) long and 800 m deep, operating at 132 kV AC.
Technical description
The cable was produced and laid by Prysmian Group and Nexans SA.{{cite news | url = http://www.powergenworldwide.com/index/display/articledisplay/1540470699/articles/powergenworldwide/t-and-d/t-and-d-infrastructure/2011/01/nexans-starts_majorca-valencia.html | title = Nexans starts Majorca-Valencia interconnector submarine cable laying | work = Power-Gen Worldwide | publisher = PennWell Corporation | date = 2011-01-28 | accessdate = 2011-01-30 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110208075521/http://www.powergenworldwide.com/index/display/articledisplay/1540470699/articles/powergenworldwide/t-and-d/t-and-d-infrastructure/2011/01/nexans-starts_majorca-valencia.html | archive-date = 2011-02-08 | url-status = dead | url = http://tdworld.com/underground_transmission_distribution/prysmian_build_hvdc/ | title = Prysmian to Build HVDC Submarine Link for Spain's REE | publisher = Penton Media, Inc. | work = Transmission & Distribution World | date = 2007-10-01 | accessdate = 2011-01-30}} There are converter stations in Morvedre and Santa Ponsa, built by Siemens.
References
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::