Energy authorizes DISA's emergency plant in Los Realejos

The General Directorate of Energy of the Government of the Canary Islands has granted administrative authorization to the 14.8 MW emergency power generation plant promoted by DISA Generación, S.L.U. in the municipality of Los Realejos, Tenerife, under file number GE25/017. The resolution, signed on September 28, 2026, by the general director Alberto Hernández Suárez, is published in the Official Gazette of the Canary Islands No. 214, of October 26, 2026, within section III (Other Resolutions), and comes after the promoter modified the initially planned location for the installation.

A project relocated following allegations

The original application was submitted on December 5, 2024, and included both the administrative authorization and the declaration, specifically, of public utility. During the processing, and following the requirements of the involved administrations—including the City Council of Los Realejos, which proposed relocation within the La Gañanía industrial estate—the promoter changed the site and updated the technical and environmental documentation. On January 31, 2026, the project revision was submitted, and the promoter requested to continue the processing.

The facilities are now located in polygon 10, plots 49 and 138, La Torre/La Gañanía, with cadastral references 38031A010000490000AQ and 38031A010001380000AW. The evacuation line was also modified via the addendum of March 2026.

Eight motor-generators and two propane tanks

The plant consists of the following elements:

• Eight motor-generator sets in containerized modules, with MWM TCG3020 V20 Z model Otto cycle gas engines or similar and Marelli MJH 630 LA4 alternators or similar, with a power of 1,880 kWe, at 11 kV and 50 Hz.
• A propane storage system with two horizontal tanks of 200 m³ each, in a fenced area of approximately 605 m², with a transfer pump, vaporization, and regulation groups.
• A loading area with a discharge point and two articulated arms for supply via tankers.
• An auxiliary-electrical building of 205.16 m² intended for the control room, cells, transformer, and low voltage.
• The SET Los Realejos 20/11 kV step-up substation, with a 20/16 MVA transformer, and a 20 kV underground line to the EDistribución Redes Digitales, S.L. substation.

Three years of operation and restricted dispatch

The resolution establishes that the facilities will be operational for a maximum period of three years, extendable only while extraordinary supply guarantee measures remain in place, and that they will only be dispatched when there is a certain risk to the security of supply. The deadline to request commissioning is six months from notification.

The framework for the action is the energy emergency declaration approved by the Governing Council on October 2, 2023, and the recognition of economic repercussions by Order TED/909/2025, of August 7, which revoked the previous Order TED/433/2024. The project was declared of general interest by Order No. 136/2025, of April 23, amended by Order No. 295/2026, of August 17, to incorporate the new location. The authorization is granted with the effects of Article 6 bis of Law 11/1997, regulating the Canarian Electricity Sector, such that it legitimizes the execution without a municipal urban planning license.

Neighborhood and environmentalist allegations

The public information process, published in the Official Gazette of the Canary Islands No. 89, of May 11, 2026, received submissions from a dozen residents, including Cristian García López, Anselmo García Pérez, Antonio Gabriel Cassany Pérez, María del Pilar Marrero Pérez, Ángel Jesús Armas Izquierdo, and Domingo Hernández Expósito, as well as Eladio Jesús Hernández González, the Turcón Cultural Ecologist Association, and the Ben Magec-Ecologistas en Acción Federation. They alleged non-compliance with distances to dwellings, a lack of noise and air quality studies, inconsistency with decarbonization goals, and risks associated with propane.

The environmental impact report, formulated by Resolution No. 639/2026, of August 31, from the General Directorate of Environmental Quality (file PLATEA 39/2026-0515085654), imposes additional requirements: a study of magnetic fields, an acoustic study prior to the works with the eight groups in operation, an assessment of the domino effect with the emergency plant located 200 meters away, a favorable report from the General Directorate of Emergencies, a Self-Protection Plan, and a perimeter vegetation barrier. It also requires studying improvements for surrounding homes and redesigning the equipment layout to increase the distance to the houses.

The authorization incorporates conditions from Red Eléctrica de España regarding the 66 kV underground line, from the Insular Council of Tenerife—which reported favorably, considering the action strategic for the supply—and from the General Directorate of Road Infrastructure. An administrative appeal (recurso de alzada) may be filed against the resolution before the Vice-Ministry of Ecological Transition within one month.

The approval of this plant consolidates two of the eight emergency facilities planned for Tenerife in Los Realejos and gauges the tension between the declared urgency of the Canarian electrical system and the unrest of local residents, who see how the substantive authorization replaces the municipal urban planning license.

Source: Official Gazette of the Canary Islands, no. 214, of October 26, 2026, section III (Other Resolutions), pages 38637-38659 (official reference: boc-a-2026-214-3687).