SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, Jan. 26 (EUROPA PRESS) –
Endesa calculates that the replacement of the electrical ring on the island of La Palma and the construction of new key buildings in energy operation will involve an investment of 10 million euros.
The volcano destroyed 136.5 kilometers of power lines, 1,668 medium and low voltage supports, 25 distribution centers and a distribution center. Likewise, La Palma lost with the eruption the double electric ring that linked the north with the south.
The general director of Infrastructures and Networks of Endesa, José Manuel Revuelta, explained that the electricity supply on an island like La Palma “is in itself complicated and the volcanic eruption swept away that ring with two lines that crossed La Palma, leaving a single line in precarious”.
“The volcano has allowed us to do a master’s degree in how to act in such a catastrophic situation and now we are focused on continuing to guarantee electricity to all residents who continue to keep their homes in the affected areas,” he added.
For his part, Endesa’s Director of Distribution in the Canary Islands, Carlos Lafoz, insisted that the reconstruction of the island’s electrical system is very pending at this time for the layout of the new roads, for which Endesa technicians have already maintained various meetings with local and regional authorities to outline the future course of the electricity networks.
“Once the political party decides the passage of the highways, we will take advantage of everything that we can from that route to locate the medium voltage lines,” said Carlos Lafoz.
The high height reached by the lava and the high temperatures that the magmatic material still retains inside at certain points, as well as the emission of gases, have been the main drawbacks when it comes to rebuilding the electrical system of La Palma.
In fact, the new layout of the island’s electrical network introduces the variant of burying the lines in those sections where the lava does not allow aerial installation. Another of the tasks that Endesa technicians have recently worked on has been to supply electrical power to the pumping of water from the north to the south of the Island.
The volcanic eruption also destroyed drinking water supply pipes. In this sense, a pumping system has been installed through the Insular Council of Waters of La Palma that skirts the volcano on the way to Las Manchas and leads the water directly to the towns in the south.
Endesa has made an effort to place generator sets in neighborhoods such as La Laguna so that the evacuated residents of 64 homes could go to clean their houses in recent days, guaranteeing electricity in practically all habitable areas.
SUPPORT CENTERS IN HERMOSILLA AND LAS MANCHAS
Among the actions carried out by Endesa’s Generation and Distribution teams in the electrical reconstruction plan for La Palma, the creation of a portable thermal power plant in Los Llanos de Aridane stands out, the assembly of which has already been completed, and a second one, with works started just recently one week, which is installed in Las Manchas, one of the areas hardest hit by volcanic activity.
The Hermosilla thermal power plant, in Los Llanos de Aridane, was built in record time and with a capacity of 9 MW, a power that would fully supply the population of Los Llanos. It is provided with twelve generator sets of considerable dimensions that were transferred to the Island by sea from destinations such as Italy, Germany and Belgium. And the laying of the medium voltage underground line connects the Hermosilla point with the Valle substation.
While the Las Manchas mobile thermal power plant project is currently being carried out, a place severely affected by lava where it is intended to replace the line that linked the north with the south of La Palma and which, according to Endesa technicians, has been completely broken. This emergency infrastructure would provisionally supply that ringed circuit. An installation that would add a power of 4 MW.
Both plants would only come into operation at specific times of breakdowns and as support logistics. The rest of the time the generator sets would be off. These are provisional installations with an initial permit of one year, but they are fundamental pieces to guarantee the electricity supply on the Island in the current phase.
Endesa also has the support on the ground of the Island of a laboratory vehicle owned by e-distribución that intervenes detecting possible damage to the underground wiring that during the months of magmatic expulsion has been subjected to the impact of the high temperatures from the surface to the passage of the laundry In this sense, the reconstruction also includes the replacement of much of that wiring.
On the other hand, since September, Endesa launched support measures for the palm population with reductions in the cost of electricity bills, with the aim of mitigating the economic and social consequences for families caused by the Cumbre Vieja volcano . It also put into operation the free telephone number 900920973 so that all those customers in La Palma who wanted to request the special rate with 50 percent discounts for the next six months could do so without having to go to the face-to-face points. The phone was working until last January 17.
Finally, a total of 10,120 requests from customers interested in enjoying the discount have been registered, 714 of them managed through the free telephone number and the rest at the company’s offices.
A few days after the eruption began, Endesa already launched certain support measures that also included personalized payment plans to defer or split bills and special measures for users whose homes were directly affected by the eruption. In fact, the rescission of contracts and cancellation of invoices has already been carried out automatically, from the date on which the eruption was triggered, for those palm growers who lost their homes.
