The president of the Government of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, has demanded this Wednesday of the central Government the implementation of a second electricity tender that incorporates the groups that were left out in the first call, as well as an improvement measure on around 26 substations and 500 kilometers of lines in order not to leave the public “without supply.”
In responding to a question raised by ASG during the control session, he indicated that “there is still a lot of work to be done,” although he acknowledged that in the current legislature there has been an “important boost” thanks to the express tender for 1,400 kilowatts and the award of the tender for the reform of power stations.
In this context, he stressed that electricity generating groups are “obsolete, polluting and not at all reliable,” as was evidenced in the latest energy zero in La Palma, and he recalled the start of the legislature, marked by a declaration of energy emergency after another “zero” in La Gomera that caused “million-losses” and an “undesirable” image abroad.
The spokesperson for ASG, Casimiro Curbelo, has reiterated that energy constitutes an “essential service” and that the insular electrical systems are “very fragile, weak and vulnerable,” something that “nobody disputes.” He recalled that interconnection has been achieved between Tenerife and La Gomera and between Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, but he warned that “there is still work to do and self-reflection” because “not all the things” that would correspond are being carried out.
Curbelo has questioned “who it is that has to face the next zero,” and he has reiterated the need to “ask for investment” in the “obsolete power stations,” to boost the energy storage capacity, to guarantee maintenance of all lines, to complete the rings, and to establish “appropriate protocols” in the event of possible incidents, with the aim of ensuring that the Canary Islands “does not live in a state of alarm” because of energy zeros.