The Granadilla de Abona City Council has been deliberating for over three years regarding the issuance of construction permits requested by Petrocan and Cementos de Granadilla, SL, which are crucial for the establishment of tanks designed to store fuel currently housed at the Santa Cruz refinery, as well as for relocating the cement industry from Cueva Bermeja at the capital’s port.
Cementos de Granadilla, SL submitted their application for a construction permit to the Granadilla City Council on July 7, 2021, during the governance of CC and PP. The current municipal administration (PSOE-PP) clarified that in October of this year, the surveyor finalised the report, and the engineer is continuing to prepare the file. “This will be processed in due course, following the established order of priority,” the municipal officials indicated.
This document is essential for the relocation to the Granadilla Industrial Estate of the cement factory situated in Cueva Bermeja. Additionally, it would ease industrial operations in this area, and the significance lies in its potential to free up land for the Port Authority, which is necessary for establishing industries aligned with sustainable practices.
The case involving Petrocan (Petróleos de Canarias) is pertinent to the expansion of Santa Cruz de Tenerife and the Port of Granadilla, where the Cepsa company holds an administrative concession covering 120,632 square metres for a 35-year period starting from November 8, 2020, for which it pays an estimated annual fee of 700,000 euros. Much of this land will be utilised to install tanks for fuel storage, replacing those currently at the Santa Cruz refinery. This construction is vital to progress with the decommissioning of the refinery.
The Granadilla de Abona City Council has also stated that the application for a building permit “will be resolved in accordance with the legal order.” The local government elaborated that “significant advancements have been made in several prior files relating to the Industrial Estate, and this line of work continues” from the Urban Planning department.
Petrocan has plans to invest 84.5 million euros in creating a facility featuring 13 tanks (11 designated for petrol, fuel oil, marine diesel, diesel fuel, and aviation kerosene, and two for marpol, the variable waste composition from ships), which will contribute an additional 154,000 cubic metres of storage capacity. The plant will be constructed on a site spanning 118,481 square metres, with surface pipes measuring 1,692 metres and underground pipes extending 488.83 square metres.
This initiative enables the relocation of Cepsa’s facilities from the Santa Cruz de Tenerife refinery. It is important to note that the refinery, as such, will no longer exist. This also involves the transfer of fuel supply operations to El Hierro, La Gomera, and La Palma, which is currently managed from the Hondura dock in Santa Cruz.
On January 10, 2023, the Ministry of Ecological Transition, Climate Change Mitigation and Territorial Planning of the Canary Islands Government endorsed the Environmental Impact Statement for the construction project aimed at the fuel storage and distribution facility in the Port of Granadilla, which is being promoted by Petróleos de Canarias.
The postponement in approving these construction permits, particularly for Petrocan, is hindering the development of the Port of Granadilla, according to consulted sources.
