Tenerife approves Drago power lines amid Icod concerns

The Canary Islands Government has approved two underground power lines running from the future Drago substation to Icod de los Vinos and to Los Realejos. On Tenerife, both routes are designed as 66-kilovolt double-circuit lines; the project was proposed by the company Red Eléctrica de España.

The line to Icod de los Vinos is approximately 5.8 kilometres long; the second line is approximately 5,800 kilometres long, runs entirely through Icod de los Vinos and connects there to the existing line towards Cuesta de la Villa/Los Realejos. The decree bears the signatures of the Head of Government, Fernando Clavijo, and Mariano Hernández Zapata, the Minister for Ecological Transition and Energy. It is dated 9 November and can be found in the Official Gazette of the Canary Islands.

The government intends to use the power lines to strengthen the transmission network in the west of Tenerife. According to the announcement, this area accounts for 20 per cent of the island’s electricity demand. The network is intended to prevent local or regional power cuts. The decree also requires a change to the land-use plan.

Icod de los Vinos: Power lines run beneath roads

Within the municipal area of Icod de los Vinos, both power lines are entirely underground. As the town centre presents technical challenges, the planners are laying the cables side by side in concrete-lined trenches beneath tarmac-surfaced roads.

The local council had raised concerns about the route. It pointed to significant disruption to local roads and to a connection chamber that would have been situated on protected rural land. On 6 May, the environmental impact statement for the plant and other associated projects was issued.

Tenerife: Regional development plan for power lines to be amended

At its first fundamental amendment, the relevant spatial planning scheme is to be adapted to the project. That is what the decree orders. It covers all provisions required for the construction of the two power lines.

This decision marks the end of the administrative process. Anyone wishing to challenge it may lodge an appeal with the Canary Islands Government within one month, or bring a case directly before the Supreme Court of the Canary Islands within two months.