Tenerife urgently needs 200 million euros to reform the electricity supply infrastructure and avoid a new blackout throughout the island. He demanded it this Thursday Rosa Davilapresident of the Cabildo, before the “serious risk” that the Island runs of being left without electricity as a result of facilities that “have become completely obsolete”, some “more than 40 years old.”
Dávila’s statements come after a report was released from Red Eléctrica de España, the company in charge of guaranteeing the security and continuity of supply, which has been warning since September 2021 of security problems in the Tenerife electrical system due to the lack of power generation. According to this document, there is a risk of suffering a zero energy like that of La Gomera last July.
Given the “critical” situation of the island’s infrastructure, the president of Tenerife asks the state government to “immediately” declare the “energy emergency” so that the 200 million euros that the island network needs to guarantee its security can be executed. as soon as possible”, the only legal way for operators to carry out the actions without extending them in time with tenders and other bureaucratic requirements.
“A 2013 national law prevents operators from renewing their equipment, which is why many have become obsolete and some are more than 40 years old,” says Rosa Dávila (DC), which adds: «This has placed the Tenerife system in a critical situation, with a very high danger of suffering new blackouts. “That is why we demand exceptional measures, such as the declaration of an energy emergency, which will allow the multiple bureaucratic conditions to be eliminated to begin the work of renewing electrical infrastructures.”
The procedures to renew the power are the responsibility of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition but the State has ignored it on up to four occasions., since 2021, the warnings from the Canary Islands Government about the fragility of Tenerife’s electrical system. According to the Red Eléctrica report, the Island has a deficit of 80 megawatts and the chances of a repeat of the energy zeros of 2009, 2010, 2019 and 2020 are very high.
The president of the Cabildo of Tenerife recalls that the Canarian Federation of Islands (Fecai), with representation of the seven councils, approved in its last meeting on the 6th to exempt Canary Islands of the administrative procedures that allow the urgent renewal of the generation systems of thermal power plants.
About, Casimiro Curbelopresident of the La Gomera Corporation and current president of Fecai, assured after the meeting that given the “emergency” situation that exists regarding the island generation systems, “An immediate response from the State must be achieved to resolve this problem.which is very serious for each of the islands.
Rosa Dávila stressed that the panorama of Tenerife is “especially delicate” because contrary to what happened with the La Gomera blackout last July, “in Tenerife an energy zero could not be resolved with generator sets.” “It is impossible on an island with nearly a million inhabitants,” she made clear.
This energy emergency request will be the only point that the Canarian councils will address again in the meeting they will hold on the 26th. Reports warn that Tenerife needs three power plants, while the majority of the Island is only supplied mainly by one, the managed by Endesa in the Granadilla de Abona Industrial Estate. “We must modernize systems that have become outdated to increase electrical power, guarantee security of supply and make the entire network more efficient and sustainable,” highlights the Tenerife president.
Other islands face the same danger of an imminent blackout. This is the case of Gran Canaria, which has a power deficit even greater than that of Tenerife: 120 megawatts. The president of the Gran Canaria Cabildo, Antonio Moralesalso launched a warning message about the “great fragility” of the Archipelago’s electrical system due to the lack of investments to replace the electrical groups that have become obsolete.
“Fruit of inaction”
Faced with this insecurity, Morales demands “urgent and regulated” measures from the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Government of the Canary Islands to guarantee supply to the population. «We are facing a risk that is the result of inaction, ignorance and forgetfulness of the Canary Islands. We cannot continue depending on a Ministry, it does not matter the time and the political color, which ignores our reality and our singularities,” he stressed.
Tenerife residents know very well what it means to be left without electricity.. They have suffered six major blackouts this centurytwo caused by natural disasters (the flood over Santa Cruz in 2002 and the Delta storm in 2005) and another four that affected the entire Island due to network failures (2009, 2010, 2019 and 2020).
