The Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO) is launching a project for one of the largest infrastructure projects on the island of Tenerife: a new pumped-storage hydroelectric plant in the municipality of Güímar, representing an investment of over €1 billion.

Sara Aagesen, Vice President of the Government and Minister for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, stated: “It will serve the electrical subsystem of the islands of Tenerife and La Gomera, in a similar way to how the Salto de Chira dam will serve Gran Canaria: it will increase the penetration of renewable energy, reducing conventional thermal generation, carbon dioxide emissions, and electricity bills, and will increase security of supply.”

MITECO has begun processing the project after receiving documentation from the System Operator justifying the construction of the power plant. It has requested the corresponding reports analysing the future facility from the National Commission on Markets and Competition and the Government of the Canary Islands. After receiving these documents, it will submit the project to the Council of Ministers.

The location chosen for the project – which will be subject to the corresponding public information and participation procedures – will also undergo an environmental restoration process.

Like the Salto de Chira hydroelectric plant, the future Güímar plant will have 200 MW of turbine capacity and 220 MW of pumped storage, allowing it to store approximately 3200 MWh, enough to cover one-third of Tenerife's daily electricity demand. With a lifespan exceeding 75 years, the plant is expected to be fully opera-tional within 10 – 12 years, a typical timeframe for this type of infrastructure.

The plant involves an investment of around €1 billion, which will be amortised in a few years, as it will generate savings of around €200 million/y, by allowing an increase in renewable generation – which has doubled since 2018, going from covering 10.5% of the archipelago's electricity demand to covering 20.7% in 2025 – and the reduction of starts and stops of conventional generation.

The future pumping station in Güímar is a key piece for the decarbonisation of the Canary Islands' energy system and will allow a significant leap forward in the path towards achieving a 100% renewable energy model.