There is no time to lose. The Department of Ecological Transition and Energy of the Government of the Canary Islands already has opened the deadline for companies to present their proposals to install additional power on the Islands and cover emergency needs in the electrical systems of the Archipelago. Interested companies will have to send their projects before October 26 so that the department headed by Mariano Hernández Zapata can assess, according to a series of criteria, which is the most appropriate to prevent new blackouts from occurring on the Islands.
In the invitation that the Ministry has posted on its website, it specifies the need to have an additional generation power of 120 megawatts available in the short term in Gran Canaria80 in Tenerife and 50 in Fuerteventura. And it is clarified that the use of these new groups will be limited to situations in which there is a certain risk to the security of supply. “The Emergency measures will be of an extraordinary and temporary nature and its maintenance over time will be extended exclusively as long as the risk situations continue,” the Ministry points out.
The document also specifies that the emergency measures will last until other structural measures can be undertaken and completed, referring to the bankruptcy process to renew the electrical systems of the Canary Islands, which can last more than five years. The counselor himself stated yesterday that the new groups will be dismantled and “they will only come into operation at specific times”, since they do “an activity of back up, in case we have problems. And the fact is that 60% of the groups currently installed in the Archipelago are obsolete since they are more than 25 years old, so they have exceeded their useful life.
The Ministry will positively value the use of less polluting fuels
The invitation published by Ecological Transition adds that “the recognition of the economic repercussions of the adoption of extraordinary measures will be established for an initial period of three years, although it may be extended annually.”
In order to enter the express contest Companies’ proposals must meet two minimum criteria. First, that the generation groups required in Gran Canaria and Tenerife must be of a size “not greater” than 30 megawatts and in Fuerteventura no more than 15 megawatts. Furthermore, in all cases, they must be able to “dock in times of less than 20 minutes and with a technical minimum close to zero megawatts.”
The Ministry will evaluate all those projects that meet the minimum requirements, but also establishes other criteria to evaluate the proposals received. Regarding the location, the Government will take into account that in Gran Canaria and Tenerife the additional generation is located in areas close to the Jinámar and Candelaria thermal power plants or on the northern slope of the Islands. As for the groups, those companies that present initiatives in which the unit power of the groups is less than 30 megawatts in the case of Gran Canaria and Tenerife, and 15 for Fuerteventura will have a better evaluation. In addition, it will be valued that this emergency generation has the capacity for autonomous start.
The Ministry, when choosing, will also take into account the type of fuel and will reward cases in which there is less polluting impact on the environment and people’s health. In addition, the shortest execution time for commissioning the proposed solution will be valued. Zapata has already announced that, at the earliest, these new groups will be installed within a year. As the counselor clarified yesterday, companies will be able to present their offers and alternatives, “which will then be worked on in each of the islands with the island councils to find the best possible fit.”
Companies that are interested, a dozen according to data from the Canary Islands Ministry, must present their proposals in the general registry of the electronic headquarters of the Government of the Canary Islands, indicating in the subject “Proposal for emergency measures for the electricity supply.” This must include a detailed description of the technical solution with issues such as the technology, model and type of fuel to be used.
In addition, the interested company must specify other issues such as the location of the facility and accreditation, if applicable, of the ownership of the land or the availability of its use. Authorizations must also be identified –substantive, environmental or territorial– that would be necessary for the installation and commissioning of the proposed solution. The Canary Islands Government also requires information on the estimated implementation period and a detailed schedule that includes both the project drafting phase, the necessary authorizations and construction and commissioning.
Zapata and Morales prepare a “common front” to promote offshore wind
The regional advisor for Ecological Transition and Energy announced the publication of that express contest after the meeting he had with the president of the Cabildo of Gran CanariaAntonio Morales, where he also announced that the autonomous Government will make a “common front” so that the island is the first Spanish territory where offshore wind energy is implemented and stated that his department will try to transfer a model similar to that of Salto de Chira “to all those islands where possible”, given that a storage system is needed for the penetration of renewables.
Hernández Zapata and the directors of his department met with Morales and several councilors of the Cabildo to address the deficiencies of the electrical system of Gran Canaria and other issues, such as waste management or the promotion of the proposal for a National Park in Guguy.
Regarding offshore wind, he said that in the meeting scheduled for today with the Minister of Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge, Teresa Ribera, he will support the proposals of the Gran Canaria Cabildo to lead the energy installation off-shore and showed the regional government’s concern about the minister’s statements in recent months “in which it seemed that the Canary Islands were no longer the priority in this wind sector.”
Preparing for the big blackout
The Government of the Canary Islands is already preparing the ‘band-aid’ for the possibility that the measures that are urgently enabled to solve the energy power deficit will not arrive in time and, as in the worst of nightmares, the Archipelago will be immersed in the darkness. Yesterday he announced that he is working on drafting a civil protection protocol to respond to possible energy zeros after the declaration of an energy emergency was approved this week.
The document must establish which are the critical infrastructures to protect or how the population should behave, how emergencies associated with the lack or reduction of basic supplies such as electricity, water or telecommunications will be managed, with the aim of guaranteeing essential services. to maintain – in case of emergency – sufficient levels of well-being, mobility and safety.
The announcement was made by the area’s counselor, Manuel Miranda, after a visit to the Emergency and Security Coordinating Center (Cecoes) in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, where he advocated “correctly evaluating all possible scenarios” due to the fragile situation in which is the electricity production of the Islands and in view of what happened in La Gomera in August. Miranda emphasizes that, without intending to scare the population, the purpose is to be prepared “to provide an efficient response” in the event of the feared blackout.
The Ministry hopes that a first draft of the protocol will be written before the end of the year.
What the Canary Islands already have is “magnificent specialists in the field of emergencies, civil protection and security” who know how to respond effectively, said Miranda.
