New Backup Power Plant Opens in Tenerife to Bolster Canary Islands Grid Stability
Sampol Canarias has opened an 11-million-euro backup power plant in Tenerife to enhance grid stability and prevent the systemic blackouts that have recently affected Tenerife and La Gomera.
The Canary Islands’ electricity supply has received a major boost with the opening of a new backup power plant at the La Gañanía Industrial Estate in Los Realejos. Developed by Sampol Canarias, the facility is designed to protect the Tenerife and La Gomera power grids, which have struggled with total blackouts over the past 18 months.
The 11-million-euro plant features eight generator sets with a total capacity of 14.8 megawatts. It will serve strictly as a contingency measure, operating only when requested by the national grid operator to maintain system stability. The plant has finished its administrative requirements and is currently undergoing final technical testing in coordination with Red Eléctrica de España.
This project is part of an emergency energy plan launched following systemic power failures in La Gomera in August 2023 and January 2024. The new plant works alongside a 36-kilometer submarine cable connecting Tenerife and La Gomera. That 145-million-euro project, supported by 32 million euros in substation upgrades, allows the two islands to share energy, preventing La Gomera from becoming electrically isolated.
Mariano Hernández Zapata, the Minister of Ecological Transition and Energy, stated that these improvements are essential for making the power grid more resilient against generation shortages. The regional government is now working with the state to balance this immediate need for reliable power with a shift toward renewable energy, aiming to reduce reliance on conventional systems that have failed to meet demand or handle technical issues.