• The opinion ‘A just transition for all EU regions’ of the European Committee of the Regions recommends an assessment of the overall impact of the 2030 emission reduction and 2050 climate neutrality legislation on island and outermost regions such as the Canary Islands.

  • Canary Islands industry has an advantage in the race towards decarbonisation as it is highly electrified. However, only 28.5% of this electricity comes from renewable sources. The real challenge is to ensure that this electrification is fuelled by clean energy.

  • ‘The opinion of the European Committee of the Regions puts on the table a particularly relevant issue for regions such as the Canary Islands in the field of energy management in industry, because competitive industrial development is not conceivable today without a renewable energy base’, Albert Concepción, director of Foro Industria y Energía.

  • ‘Electrification and energy transition are essential to guarantee the connectivity of our islands, an absolute priority for the development and future of the archipelago’, Beatriz Calzada, President of the Port of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.

The recent opinion ‘A just transition for all EU regions’ of the European Committee of the Regions has put the spotlight on the vulnerability of regions with isolated energy systems. As Albert Concepción, Director of Foro Industria y Energía, points out, ‘this opinion brings to the table a particularly relevant issue for regions such as the Canary Islands in the field of industrial energy management, because competitive industrial development is not conceivable today without a renewable energy base’.

The opinion also recommends that an ‘assessment of the overall impact of the 2030 emission reduction regulation and 2050 climate neutrality in these regions’ be drawn up.

The price of insularity: a fragmented and vulnerable system

For the 15 million Europeans living on islands, energy is a major challenge, with bills that can be up to four times more expensive than on the mainland. The European Committee of the Regions has been forceful in recalling ‘the vulnerable situation of regions with isolated systems, which cannot be connected to the European grid’. For these regions, such as the Canary Islands, the opinion calls for special support, considering the serious socio-economic challenges involved in the transition to the 2030 climate goals.

Beatriz Calzada, president of the port of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, recognises that, ‘the Canary Islands, being outermost regions, have exceptionalities in environmental regulations and the system of emissions as long as we are not able to generate the necessary electricity by renewable means. But one thing is that by 2030 we will have these exceptions and another is the need we have to generate energy so as not to lose the routes of the ships that use the Canary Islands to follow their routes’. Calzada also reminds us that ‘electrification and energy transition are essential to guarantee the connectivity of our islands, an absolute priority for the development and future of the archipelago’.

The Canary Islands paradox: dependence versus potential

The current Canary Islands electricity system reflects a complex reality: with demand reaching 8,752 GWh in 2023, it maintains a dependence of 80.58% on non-renewable energies. The system is characterised by a poorly diversified and ageing generation park, fragmented into 6 isolated subsystems, where only Fuerteventura and Lanzarote have achieved electricity interconnection. According to data extracted from the 2023 Annual Report of the Economic and Social Council of the Canary Islands, the combined cycle dominates generation with 42.23%, followed by diesel engines (21.51%), wind energy (15.15%) and steam turbine (13.91%).

However, this reality contrasts with an extraordinary renewable potential: the archipelago has 544,846 m² of surface area available for solar energy and 67 MW of geothermal capacity, resources that could radically transform the islands’ energy landscape.

The challenge of industrial electrification

A crucial aspect that defines the Canary Islands’ energy situation is the peculiar nature of its industrial consumption. Industry in the Canary Islands has a distinctive feature: most of its industrial energy consumption comes from electricity (almost 67% in 2021, according to a Spanish National Statistics Institute -INE- survey), making it a sector that is particularly well prepared for the energy transition. This is a significant advantage, as it greatly facilitates the process of industrial electrification.

However, the most recent data from Foro Sella’s Renewable Energy Observatory, made by Opina 360, reveal a major challenge: only 28.5% of the electricity generated in the Canary Islands during the third quarter of 2024 came from renewable sources. This reality underlines the urgent need to reorient the energy matrix towards more sustainable sources, ensuring that industrial electrification is mainly fuelled by renewables rather than fossil fuels.

The energy transition in the Canary Islands represents much more than a local challenge: it is a model of transformation for island regions. Investing in their energy management and industrialisation is a fundamental strategy to strengthen the sustainability and competitiveness of the entire European Union.

PTECan 2030: the roadmap to energy autonomy

The Canary Islands Energy Transition Plan establishes an unprecedented comprehensive transformation of the energy sector. In the field of renewable energy, it plans to achieve 2,036 MW in wind power, both onshore and offshore, complemented by 1,314 MW in photovoltaic, of which 524 MW will be dedicated to self-consumption on rooftops, and an additional 60 MW for other renewable sources.

The plan envisages a robust energy storage system, with a total capacity of 4,339 MWh, strategically distributed: 827 MWh at user level, 162 MWh in distribution, and 3,350 MWh on a large scale, including 150 MWh from the Gorona del Viento plant in El Hierro and 3,200 MWh from the promising Salto de Chira project in Gran Canaria.

Inter-island interconnection will be reinforced with a new link between Tenerife – La Gomera and Fuerteventura – Gran Canaria, while moving towards a progressive reduction of thermal generation, with a target of 1,440 MW by 2030. These measures aim to achieve a 37% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared to 2010, with 29% renewable energy in final consumption and an ambitious 62% in electricity generation.

European backing as a driver of change

The European Union has backed this transition with substantial financial support: 1.816 billion euros for the ERDF and ESF+ programmes in the period 2021-2027, complemented by 82 million euros in FEMPA and 268.4 million euros in POSEI. This support reflects the EU’s recognition of the specific needs of the outermost regions.

From isolation to strategic autonomy: industrial competitiveness and decarbonisation as keys to the future

Islands are, by definition, isolated territories. It is no coincidence that in the word ‘isolation’ we find the word ‘island’. However, in the case of the Canary Islands, the only Spanish outermost region of the European Union, this geographical isolation should not translate into energy or industrial isolation.

The recent Draghi Report already highlighted the urgent need to undertake industrial policies hand in hand with energy transition as an essential step to promote the EU’s competitiveness. In this context, the energy transition in the Canary Islands represents much more than a local challenge: it is a model of transformation for island regions. The particular situation of Canarian industry, already highly electrified, presents a unique opportunity to lead this transformation. The real challenge now lies in ensuring that this electrification is fuelled by renewable sources, surpassing the current 28.5% of clean generation to achieve the ambitious decarbonisation targets set.

Investing in its energy management and industrialisation is a key strategy to strengthen the sustainability and competitiveness of the entire European Union. The path from isolation to strategic autonomy inevitably passes through industrial competitiveness and decarbonisation, thus turning a historical challenge into an opportunity for the future.