Renewable energy in Tenerife is still far from the national average, and thus efforts need to be intensified.
In a previous article we discussed plans to end the energy crisis in the Canary archipelago. It was concluded that natural gas, and not nuclear energy, is the short-term solution for the energy problem in Tenerife and, by extension, all the islands.
The Canary archipelago only obtains a fifth of its electricity consumption from renewable sources. This is far from the national average, which stands at 50%. The Canary archipelago concluded 2023 with 19% green energy production relative to the total consumption of the previous year.
Too Slow
While the production and use of renewable energy are increasing, the figures are still far from the national average. According to the most recent annual data on electricity generation and capacity per community and autonomous cities in Spain, provided by Red Eléctrica de España (REE) for 2023, the generation and use of renewable energies in the Canary Islands are progressing steadily, but slowly. The pace at which these resources are being implemented (installed capacity) and their final availability on the grid (electricity production) still show levels far removed from the Spanish average in 2023.
Too Little
The Canary Islands improved their installed capacity of renewable energy (mainly wind and solar power) from 25% of the total electrical system of the island group in 2022 (802 megawatts) to 27% (899 MW) by the end of 2023. This is an increase of only two percent.
In 2023, the electricity consumption on the islands from green energy sources reached only 19% (1,697 gigawatt-hours-GWh), a relative value far below the national average of 50.3%, which is also a historical record for Spain.
Dependency
The Canary Islands have a long way to go, undoubtedly influenced (and the process made more difficult) by being an isolated system, with only two interconnected islands, Fuerteventura and Lanzarote. Additionally, there is the ongoing project led by REE to connect La Gomera and the south of Tenerife with an underwater power cable.
According to the Electric System Report (2023) by Red Eléctrica Española (REE), generation with renewable energy sources per autonomous community heavily depends on the distribution of installed capacity and the weather conditions prevailing each year. This is also the case for renewable energy in Tenerife, where solar panels do not yield during the night and wind turbines do not turn when there is no wind.
In Spain
The energy sector in Spain in 2023 continued to grow with an 8.8% increase in installed renewable capacity compared to the previous year, amounting to an increase of 6,261 MW. Renewable energy installations (installed capacity) represent 61.3% of the electricity park in Spain.
The renewable production (generation) in the Spanish electrical system in 2023 increased by 15.1% compared to the previous year, achieving a historic production record with 134,321 GWh. The contribution of renewable energies to the national electricity generation in 2023 also reached a historic record in the share of electricity generation, with 50.3% or 8.1 percent higher than last year when renewable energy sources accounted for a weight of 42.2% in the national energy mix.
Source: Renewable Energy Report (2023), Red Eléctrica de España (REE).
Guy Devos © AI Illustration
Renewable energy in Tenerife ©
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