The Minister of Ecological Transition and Energy of the Canary Islands Government, Mariano H. Zapata, assured in the Parliament of the Canary Islands that his department is monitoring incidents to clarify the causes and determine responsibilities for the blackouts recorded in Lanzarote and La Graciosa last October.
After requesting information from Red Eléctrica and Endesa, the Canary Islands Government is analyzing the reports received last week to determine if the incident on October 3rd, which took the Mácher substation out of service and electrically separated Lanzarote from Fuerteventura, could have been avoided.
“"We perfectly understand the anger of the people of Lanzarote and La Graciosa. Being without light is already serious, but when there are also incidents with desalination plants and many families are left without water, the situation is even more worrying. We want to know what failed, why it failed, and who is responsible for it."
Zapata also expressed concern about the situation in Fuerteventura, which faces a generation deficit of approximately 50 MW due to the obsolescence of its generation units. This situation increases the electrical dependence on Lanzarote and the vulnerability of the shared system, especially when renewable energy output is low.
In this regard, he recalled that the ministry is finalizing the works for two emergency plants in Puerto del Rosario (Fuerteventura) to cover this deficit, stating that "if these two plants had been operational, we would not be talking about any blackout on the island today."
Furthermore, the minister emphasized the urgency of completing the last section of the Mácher-Playa Blanca line in Lanzarote, which requires undergrounding in Yaiza. He highlighted that Playa Blanca was able to maintain supply during the blackout thanks to its connection with Fuerteventura, an alternative that the rest of the island lacks.
The Canary Islands Government has allocated budget to co-finance the undergrounding, but the cooperation of all involved administrations is needed to unblock the project. Finally, he mentioned the regional executive's initiative to include the north-south electrical corridor of Lanzarote in the new state planning, aiming to strengthen the grid and prevent the island from depending on a single supply route.
