Canary Islands now generate a quarter of electricity from renewables

The key points: Show summary Hide summary

The share of green electricity in the Canary Islands rose to an average of 28.5 per cent last week.
On 28 August, the grid operator Red Eléctrica reported a daily high of 38.2 per cent.
A hybrid solar power plant with battery storage is being built in Adeje, which is designed to supply solar power even outside midday hours.

On average, 28.5 per cent of electricity consumption in the Canary Islands last week was generated from renewable energy sources. The grid operator Red Eléctrica (REE) reported the highest daily figure on 28 August, at 38.2 per cent.

Hide advertising here!

This represented a significant increase compared with the previous week. Previously, the share had stood at just 20.7 per cent. This marked a 7.8 percentage point rise in renewable energy generation. There was a gap of around ten percentage points between the weekly average and the highest recorded figure. This highlights the potential that the Canary Islands still have, particularly when it comes to storing renewable energy.

This marked a reversal of a trend that had recently seemed to be heading in the opposite direction. Only recently, the share of green electricity in the Canary Islands had fallen to just over a fifth, after the islands had already been generating less renewable energy. A single day of strong winds had an immediately noticeable effect on the weekly figures for the islands.

Electricity consumption on Tenerife rises slightly

At the same time, the amount of electricity consumed on the largest island increased: according to the statistics office ISTAC, 290,637 megawatt-hours were available on Tenerife in June. That was 1.7 per cent more than in the same month last year. The shared electricity grid between Tenerife and La Gomera was only recently brought online. A new undersea cable enables both islands to exchange energy.

Meanwhile, energy provision is also being optimised: a hybrid solar power plant with battery storage is being built in Adeje, which is intended to make solar power available even outside midday hours. Storage systems are seen as a means of countering the fluctuations shown in the grid operator’s weekly figures. Thanks to large storage capacities, the energy can be accessed even when there is little wind to drive the wind turbines or insufficient light for photovoltaic generation.