First Tenerife-La Gomera Power Cable Enhances Security, Renewables
A new 145 million euro underwater electricity cable, the first to connect Tenerife and La Gomera's power grids, significantly enhances energy security and renewable power integration in the Canary Islands.
A new underwater electricity cable connecting Tenerife and La Gomera marks a significant step for energy security and the use of renewable power in the Canary Islands. This infrastructure is the first to link the two islands' power grids, which were previously separate. Its main goal is to make island power systems less fragile and greatly reduce the risk of "energy zeros," or complete blackouts.
The project, led by Red Eléctrica (now Redeia), involved a 145 million euro investment just for laying the 36-kilometer underwater cable. On top of this, two new substations were built in El Palmar (La Gomera) and Chío (Tenerife). These cost an extra 32 million euros and are vital for the connection to work. Installing the cable was technically challenging; it's a 66-kilovolt alternating current cable that reaches depths of over 1,200 meters, making it one of the deepest of its kind globally.
This connection is important because island power systems have historically been quite vulnerable. For instance, La Gomera suffered a long blackout of nearly 60 hours in 2023, and another two-hour outage in January this year. Tenerife also experienced a seven-hour power cut in 2020. The new cable will allow the islands to help each other out if there's a problem, making their power supply much more stable.
Besides making the power supply more secure, this underwater link also helps with the shift to cleaner energy. La Gomera can now produce more renewable energy than it needs. Any extra power can be sent to Tenerife, making the most of clean energy across the region. Before this, only Lanzarote and Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands were connected by electricity cables. All other islands ran their power systems independently.
The project was officially opened in San Sebastián de La Gomera. Many important officials attended, including the President of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo; the Minister of Territorial Policy, Ángel Víctor Torres; Redeia's President, Beatriz Corredor; and the presidents of the island councils for La Gomera and Tenerife, Casimiro Curbelo and Rosa Dávila. They all highlighted how important this project is as a technological and strategic step forward for connecting the islands and modernizing the archipelago's energy system.