LISBON, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- Portugal's Energy Minister Maria da Graca Carvalho said Tuesday that France has made significant progress toward building electricity interconnections with the Iberian Peninsula following April's regional blackout.
"Following the blackout, in which we were more vocal than usual about interconnections, there has been very important progress from the French side," Carvalho told the Lusa News Agency.
France has reached an agreement with the European Investment Bank on unified financing for the interconnection projects, the news agency reported.
The Carvalho's remarks came as European Energy Commissioner Dan Jorgensen urged EU member states to cut energy taxes and boost interconnections to help lower energy bills.
The Iberian Peninsula's current electricity connectivity with the rest of the EU remains below 3 percent. Portugal has advocated raising the EU's energy interconnection target to 15 percent by 2030.
"Interconnections are fundamental to ensuring everyone can access energy at the best cost," Jorgensen said, adding that the EU would propose new "energy highways" to strengthen the bloc's power network.
Carvalho said Portugal is already expanding connections with Spain and is "fully aligned" with the EU initiative to enhance cross-border links.
