The Canary Islands will request from the State a specific legislative framework for its electricity sector

The document -reports the Government of the Canary Islands- will include criteria "for the substitution of small thermal groups, so that they are smaller, flexible and can operate 100% with green hydrogen". It also proposes the design of an electricity market for the Canary Islands, "with a differentiated treatment with respect to the mainland, in which the participation of renewables in the adjustment system, the regulation of the market for chemical batteries and the conditions and contribution of the energy communities are contemplated". According to the Canary Islands Executive, as regards this type of communities, a specific section will be contemplated in the proposal to modify the current criteria and to make possible an extension of the current location radius, among other measures.

The Minister of Ecological Transition, Fight against Climate Change and Territorial Planning of the Government of the Canary Islands, José Antonio Valbuena, has detailed that the objective is to submit this document to the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge in the next months, once it has been agreed with all the members of the Energy Observatory of the Canary Islands (OECan) and with the rest of the agents involved in the sector, such as renewable energy project promoters, commercialization and distribution companies, employers, etc. [Below, table extracted from the Anuario Energético de Canarias 2020, published by the Government of the Canary Islands last January. They contain the latest official consolidated data, corresponding to the year 2020].

José Antonio Valbuena, Minister of Ecological Transition: "The Canary Islands currently have six electricity systems isolated from each other and the available generation groups have a considerable obsolescence, so urgent actions are required to ensure a greater penetration of renewable energies coming from solar and wind farms implemented or planned in the islands. The purpose of this Government is to overcome the barriers that exist in the Canary Islands to ensure a real ecological transition, reaching the milestones set out in the planning already drafted by the Executive and thus turning obstacles into opportunities for the islands. Without the modifications of the current rules of the game of the electricity sector in the Canary Islands, whose changes depend on the State Government, it will be impossible to achieve the energy transition and the so necessary decarbonization of our economy."

According to Red Eléctrica de España, at the end of April the Canary Islands had a total installed power of 3,172 megawatts, distributed as follows: some 780 megawatts of renewable power (560 megawatts of wind, 202 of solar photovoltaic, 11 of hydro-wind and 6 of hydro and other renewables); and just over 2,300 megawatts of power associated with fossil fuels (gas, diesel and other petroleum derivatives).