The European Union says it wants clean, competitive, and secure energy to accelerate the energy transition, strengthen strategic autonomy, and ensure security of supply. Yet when it comes to turning rhetoric into investment and infrastructure, it continues to overlook one of its greatest energy assets: the Iberian Peninsula, which is still treated as a peripheral region rather than the strategic asset it truly is.
From “Energy Island” to a Renewable Energy Leader
For years, Portugal and Spain were referred to as an “energy island.” Today, that expression no longer describes a technical problem; it describes a political gap. The Iberian Peninsula is home to some of Europe’s best solar and wind resources. The result is plain to see: wholesale electricity prices are often among the lowest on the continent, driven by clean, abundant, and competitive energy. This is exactly the type of energy Europe says it needs to protect its industry, reduce external dependencies, and accelerate decarbonization.
The Interconnection Challenge Limiting Europe’s Potential
However, much of this value is being wasted. Whenever there is excess renewable generation, Portugal and Spain face the same obstacle: insufficient electricity interconnections with the rest of Europe, particularly France. As a result, energy that could help lower industrial costs across multiple countries is constrained, curtailed, or economically devalued simply because the necessary infrastructure is lacking.
Energy Storage Capacity Already Operating at Scale
The irony is that the Iberian Peninsula is not only a major producer of renewable energy. It is also one of the few European regions with genuine large-scale energy storage capacity. Pumped-storage hydropower plants function as natural batteries, absorbing surplus energy when solar and wind generation is abundant and releasing it when the system needs it. What Brussels continues to seek through reports, prototypes, and pilot projects already exists, is operational, and is being scaled up in Portugal and Spain.
Why Flexibility Matters in a Renewable Energy System
In an energy system dominated by intermittent sources, flexibility is power, and the Iberian Peninsula has it.
Even combined-cycle power plants, often criticized, continue to play a crucial role by ensuring stability in a rapidly transforming energy system. They may not represent the future, but without them the present would be far more fragile.
The Missing Ingredient: Political Will
The facts speak for themselves: the Iberian Peninsula combines competitive renewable generation, energy storage capacity, and technological integration. What is missing is not sunlight, wind, or innovation. What is missing is decisive action.
As the European Union continues to delay critical investments in interconnections and remains constrained by national and bureaucratic considerations, a strategic opportunity at its southwestern edge remains locked away.
Can the Iberian Peninsula Become Europe’s Energy Battery?
The question is no longer whether the Iberian Peninsula has the conditions to serve as Europe’s battery. The real question is: how many energy crises will it take before Europe decides to fully harness the potential that already exists within its own territory?
Ignoring these 581,353 km² is neither accidental nor the result of an unavoidable technical limitation. It is a deliberate, repeated, structural political choice and, above all, an expensive one for Europe as a whole.
Ana Veva is Energy Industry Lead at Glintt Next.
source: Jornal Económico
