Tenerife Geothermal Drilling Set to Begin in Vilaflor

The geothermal project on the island is beginning with ground preparation work in Trevejos, within the municipality of Vilaflor. The necessary earthworks have leveled the surface, and the site is now awaiting two drilling machines, which arrived in Tenerife on November 28. Juan José Martínez, the Councillor for Innovation for the Cabildo de Tenerife, stated that the goal is to start drilling "before the year ends."

At the same time, the island council is collecting the water needed for the exploration phase from the Fonsalía desalination plant. Local residents had expressed concerns about water usage during the underground exploration. "Thanks to the expansion of the Fonsalía desalination plant, located in Guía de Isora, we have already collected 17,500 cubic meters of water for the drilling," the councillor explained. "At the current pace, we will have the 40,000 cubic meters we need by January." He also announced that from August next year, more water will be accumulated, which will be available for Vilaflor's needs, "mainly for the agricultural sector."

Drilling is expected to last for four or five months, until approximately May 2026. If the drilling does not find water hotter than 120 or 140 degrees Celsius, the land will be restored to its original state, and the project will be canceled. Martínez clarified that this would be "at least at that point," suggesting the possibility of another drilling in a different location on the island. Nevertheless, he remains optimistic due to the involvement of an Icelandic company as a technological partner. "It gives us considerable confidence that they are investing in a geothermal exploration project in Tenerife. This provides us with indications and possibilities of success in the search," he said.

The two machines will work together. One drills to a depth of 150 to 250 meters, preparing the way for the second, which can reach up to 3,000 meters deep – the depth required to find the geothermal resource. Both machines arrived at the port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife disassembled due to their large size.

While Iceland is a global leader in geothermal energy, the Cabildo is primarily looking to places like the Azores in Portugal as a guide. The main reason is that Iceland does not face the same land use challenges, whereas in the Portuguese archipelago – much like the Canary Islands – environmental protection is very strict. "In the Azores, they have plants installed in landscapes even within the Natura 2000 Network. These are lands with the highest level of environmental protection in the European Union," described the island's Councillor for Innovation. He added that in the Portuguese islands, the facilities are often camouflaged within the natural environment.

Tenerife is also considering Florence, Italy, as another model for this geothermal project. "If we are successful in the exploration phase, we would install the same type of exploitation plants that are located in Florence," he stated.

Discovering geothermal sources would be a significant turning point for Tenerife's energy future. The Councillor for Innovation emphasized that any future energy project would be designed "with minimal impact and respecting all environmental regulations." He also noted the agreement with the Vilaflor City Council to locate and operate the extraction plant at that site.

The search for geothermal energy on the island has all the necessary permits, according to Martínez, including approvals "from the European Union, through the Ministry for Ecological Transition of the Government of Spain, also from the regional Executive, and the necessary sectoral reports from the Cabildo de Tenerife." This clean energy source offers several advantages over other renewables: it is continuous, unlike wind or solar power, and does not require as much space as wind turbines or solar panels. "Geothermal energy is the energy that can truly replace fossil fuels because it does not depend on environmental factors such as wind or sun," he concluded.

Juan José Martínez commented on how revolutionary it would be for Tenerife "if we found geothermal resources in sufficient quantities to have a significant impact on the Island's energy supply." However, he clarified that there is no talk of a complete replacement of fossil fuels. The expectation is that this first phase of drilling will, in the near future, lead to the full use of geothermal sources in Tenerife. "Implementing geothermal energy would be a revolutionary change in Tenerife's energy supply paradigm," the councillor concluded.