Urgent Energy Installations Hamper Innovative Projects
The urgent need for additional energy through so-called emergency generation plants is putting a brake on the development of other innovative projects. The energy company Disa, through its subsidiary Hydrogen Renewable Tenerife, has had to abandon the development of a green hydrogen plant in Granadilla de Abona. Instead, the company will proceed with the installation of the Los Abrigos plant to prevent blackouts on the island. This facility is one of the ten emergency installations that the Government of the Canary Islands initiated after learning of a report from Red Eléctrica warning of the electric generation deficit in Tenerife, Gran Canaria, and Fuerteventura. Recently, the Los Abrigos plant, located in Granadilla’s industrial area, received approval from the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Energy, highlighting that the company has had to withdraw from its other project.
Urgency Takes Priority
On 26 May 2025, the company submitted a formal notice stating its withdrawal from the “environmental processing of the project.” This decision was made because the planned location for the hydrogen plant coincided with the site designated for the additional generation plant, Los Abrigos, which has been declared an emergency project. The company’s intention is to continue with the construction of the hydrogen plant, as noted in their letter expressing their “strong commitment to pursue its development in an alternative location within the same plot and to restart the processing,” as stated in the decree authorising the emergency plant’s installation.
Restarting the Processing
This means a delay for an innovative project that had already passed several bureaucratic hurdles for its installation. The project was declared of insular interest in 2022, enabling a more streamlined authorisation process. A year later, details of the project emerged following public consultations regarding its environmental authorisation. The hydrogen plant, which is also set to be replicated in Gran Canaria, comprises a generation system with an electrolyser (the facility for hydrogen production), a compression and hydrogen dispatch system (for storing the hydrogen produced by the electrolyser), and various auxiliary systems. Throughout the processing, the plot of 275,014 square metres intended for the project has undergone public consultation twice.
