Canary Islands approves the 66 kV Santa Águeda-El Tablero power line

The Government of the Canary Islands has agreed to the execution of the 66 kV single-circuit overhead/underground electrical energy transmission line, Santa Águeda-El Tablero 2, on the island of Gran Canaria, by means of Decree 143/2026, of September 4, published in the Official Gazette of the Canary Islands (BOC) no. 182 on Thursday, September 10, 2026 (pp. 34366-34371). The infrastructure, promoted by Red Eléctrica de España, S.A.U. (file AT23-015), will connect the Santa Águeda and El Tablero substations, both located in the municipality of San Bartolomé de Tirajana.

A key infrastructure for the south of Gran Canaria

The project consists of the construction of a single-circuit 66 kV transmission line with a total length of 10.304 kilometers, of which 5.233 correspond to the overhead section and 5.071 to the underground section. The route starts from the Santa Águeda substation, ascends the slope to support T-1 as an overhead line, and after support T-17, it runs underground again through agricultural land, a tunnel under the connecting branch of the GC-500 with the GC-1 highway, and several urban streets (Mar de Azor, Mar de Azov, and Avenida de la Unión Europea), until entering the El Tablero substation.

• Overhead section: AL/AW HAWK conductor.
• Underground section: RHZ1-RA+2OL(AS) 1x1000 KAl + H135 conductor at GIS position arrivals and RHE-RA+2OL 1x1000 KAl + H135 for the remainder.
• Splicing chambers: CE-01, CE-02, CE-03, and CE-04.

Declaration of general interest and prior procedures

The action was declared of general interest by means of Order no. 221/2026, of June 11, from the Councilor for Ecological Transition and Energy, in accordance with article 6 bis of Law 11/1997, of December 2, regulating the Canarian Electricity Sector. The project is listed in the “Energy Planning. Electrical Energy Transmission Network Development Plan 2021-2026”, approved by Agreement of the Council of Ministers on March 22, 2022, and is framed within the energy emergency declaration of the Canary Islands approved on October 2, 2023.

The City Council of San Bartolomé de Tirajana issued an unfavorable technical report (January 26, 2026) and proposed an alternative for undergrounding through rural land. The Government discarded it, considering that remunerable undergrounding requires running through urbanized land, in accordance with Royal Decree 1047/2013, of December 27. The General Directorate of Environmental Quality, through Resolution no. 232/2026, of April 1, formulated a favorable Environmental Impact Report, published in the BOC on April 21, 2026.

Modification of planning and effects

The decree simultaneously orders the modification of the affected urban planning upon its first substantial modification, and in itself legitimizes the execution of construction, building, and land-use acts, without the need for any other territorial or urban planning instrument. The infrastructure will favor a greater penetration of renewable energies, in line with Law 7/2021, of May 20, on climate change and energy transition, which sets a target of 74% renewable generation by 2030 and 100% by 2050.

Against the decree, which exhausts administrative remedies, an optional appeal for reversal (recurso de reposición) may be filed before the Government of the Canary Islands within one month, or a contentious-administrative appeal may be filed before the Contentious-Administrative Chamber of the High Court of Justice of the Canary Islands within two months. The act is signed by the President of the Government, Fernando Clavijo Batlle, and the Minister of Ecological Transition and Energy, Mariano Hernández Zapata.

The decision reinforces the guarantee of supply in the south of Gran Canaria, an area of high tourist and residential demand, and unlocks an infrastructure planned since 2022 that had encountered municipal opposition to the urban layout. Its execution will allow for the integration of more renewables into the Canarian electrical system and progress toward the decarbonization goals set for 2030 and 2050.

Source: Official Gazette of the Canary Islands, no. 182, September 10, 2026, III. Other Resolutions, pp. 34366-34371 (official reference: Decree 143/2026, file AT23-015).