Why are renewables not enough to save the Canary Islands' electrical system?
The administrative blockade that, de facto, has paralyzed the installation of new power plants in the Canary Islands has put the islands' electrical system at risk.. The one in La Gomera is just the latest of several blackouts that have also affected El Hierro and Tenerife in recent years.
Did the blockade affect all technologies?
No, only to the installation of non-renewable sources. For renewables, a competition mechanism was established in the 2013 law and they have continued to increase their installed power and, in fact, wind power already accounts for almost 20% of the total, with 652 MW, according to data from Red Eléctrica.
Could it not have been resolved then by installing more renewables?
Its not that easy. In island systems, these sources must be accompanied by backup technologies to provide stability to the system.. Until real, scalable storage solutions arrive, their intermittency would endanger supply at times when the wind is not blowing or the sun is out.
Furthermore, for the system to function correctly, supply and demand must be balanced.. That is to say, it is also necessary to lower electricity production when it is not necessary and the simplest thing in these cases is to simply 'disconnect' the wind turbines or solar panels.. Thermoelectric plants, although they are more polluting, are more constant. On the other hand, except for gas combined cycles, they also have slower start-up times, so it is not possible to turn them off completely if they may be needed again shortly afterwards.
Why are maintenances delayed?
For this same need for support. To carry out maintenance on each group – each of the generators in a power plant, so to speak – it must be turned off.. This makes it unavailable for quite some time, so the operator warned on several occasions that not having these groups could mean a system crash if it became stressed at any time during this process, because there would be no technology to fall back on. that case.
Are island systems very different from peninsular systems?
Although they are similar in operation, their insularity is key, especially in the Canary Islands.. The Balearic Islands have been able to solve part of their problems thanks to an underwater connection with the peninsula, which can act as an additional power station if necessary, but in the Canary archipelago it is not possible to 'pull cable' because there is too much distance and it is technologically impossible.
On the other hand, peninsular Spain has international connections that allow electricity to be imported or exported to provide stability to the system.. Likewise, it still has the constant contribution – more than 90% of the hours of the year – from nuclear power, which generates around 20% of the country's electricity and serves, in a certain way, as a wardrobe.
What is the solution?
In the long term, storage. El Hierro can be the mirror in which the Canary Islands should be looked at. The island is home to Gorona del Viento, a facility that combines a 11.5 MW wind farm, a hydraulic plant of similar power, 11.83 MW, and a 12 MW diesel plant.. In addition, there is a system of turbines that pumps water to the upper hydraulic pond and is fed by the wind from Gorona's wind turbines.. In this way, energy can be stored in potential form, with water. When necessary, it is released and the electricity is generated in this way, but it can also be done by the wind farm or, if necessary, when the water is below and there is no wind, exclusively by the diesel plant.
In addition, electrochemical batteries and green hydrogen could provide similar support and absorb excess generation at times when there is not as much demand.