Canarian coalition calls for faster power plant renewal during Fuerteventura visit
Congress candidate Teodoro Sosa says ageing power plants leave the Canary Islands vulnerable to blackouts and wants the state to accelerate their replacement.
Primero Canarias-Coalición Canaria candidate Teodoro Sosa has called for faster renewal of the Canary Islands’ ageing power plants, warning that the electricity system remains vulnerable to blackouts.
Speaking beside Las Salinas thermal power station in El Charco, Puerto del Rosario, Sosa said his coalition would press the Spanish state to accelerate the replacement of facilities more than 40 years old with more efficient, renewable and flexible alternatives. The proposal forms part of the alliance’s election programme.
Sosa, who is standing for Congress in Las Palmas, made the appeal at the start of two days of work in Fuerteventura. He was accompanied by Juan José Rodríguez, third on the coalition’s list for Congress, and its Fuerteventura Senate candidate, Nuria Cabrera.
Concerns over supply
Sosa said the Canary Islands had suffered nine island-wide power failures in the past eight years, while the Balearic Islands had experienced none. He argued that the fragility of the electricity system also affected desalination plants.
He pointed to an energy emergency declared by the Canary Islands government in October 2023 and subsequent negotiations with the state. Sosa said a public tender had since been awarded and was undergoing administrative procedures and authorisations. It involves €500 million to modernise nine generating units, with a combined capacity of 1,000 MW, in Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and Fuerteventura.
The candidate also pledged to monitor that process and seek faster progress on a second tender, published on 14 July 2026. The tender allocates 95 MW of capacity to Fuerteventura and Lanzarote together.
El Charco and plans for Zurita
Sosa cited the start of dismantling at the El Charco power station as an example of what pressure in Madrid could achieve. He said its closure had been a longstanding demand of Asamblea Majorera-Coalición Canaria, following more than two decades of campaigning.
Rodríguez and Cabrera said Puerto del Rosario council and the Fuerteventura Cabildo had opposed an expansion of the plant and offered the state public land for a new facility in Zurita, away from populated areas. The coalition’s proposals for the island also include developing renewable energy on already developed sites, such as roofs, car parks and public buildings.
During their visit, the candidates also met residents of Los Molinos, on the island’s north-west coast, and visited the international kite festival at Grandes Playas in Corralejo.