• The Company, in accordance with the commitment undertaken, allocated a total of €126 million to the 2011-2017 Grid Assets Improvement Project and a further €148 million towards a specific maintenance plan.

Red Eléctrica de España invested €274 million in the renovation, improvement and maintenance of the Canary Islands transmission grid between 2011 and 2017, of which €126 million were invested in the Grid Assets Improvement Project (MAR Project) and €148 million in a specific maintenance plan for the facilities of the Canary Islands, as explained by the Manager of the Facilities Maintenance Area of the Company, Manuel López Cormenzana, during a press conference held today.

These actions have consisted in adapting and retrofitting the assets of the transmission grid of the Canary Islands, acquired in 2010, to the standards of those on the Peninsula. Thus, the Company has renewed 340 substation bays, replaced 457 towers, changed 132.74 km of conductor and increased the power capacity of 108 switches. In addition, the Company has installed 42 new multi-purpose switches and has carried out revision and comprehensive maintenance tasks on all the transformers installed (16) in the Canary Islands.

In a previous meeting, executives of Red Eléctrica provided the Regional Minister of Economy, Industry, Trade and Knowledge of the Canary Islands Government, Pedro Ortega, with a sum up of the actions performed for the renovation and improvement of the assets.

According to Mr. López Cormenzana, the MAR Project, carried out on the islands of Tenerife, La Palma, Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura and Lanzarote, originated as projected aimed at solving the main problems of the facilities and infrastructure acquired by Red Eléctrica on the islands, affected by corrosion problems and rusting in tower stubs and foundations and also in substation elements, in addition to the need to retrofit the infrastructure to meet the quality standards of the assets of the peninsular transmission grid.

As part of the MAR Project and the specific maintenance plan for the archipelago, 100% of the substation bays in Tenerife have been retrofitted and 72.5 km of electricity line conductors and 33 towers have been replaced, additionally anti-corrosion coating and paint was applied to 73% of the towers on the island. One of the actions of note was the recent work conducted on the Granadilla-Candelaria line, where the first tower replacements under live line working conditions was performed for a 220 kilovolts (kV) line in the Canary Islands. 

Other noteworthy actions included within the framework of these maintenance and improvement tasks is the application of anti-corrosion coating and paint to all electricity facilities in La Palma and Lanzarote, in addition to the renewal of 309 towers on the island of Fuerteventura and 95 on Lanzarote.

During this period, 18 towers on the island of Gran Canaria were replaced, in some cases under live line working conditions, such as those of the 66 kV Jinámar-Telde and Jinámar-Marzagán lines. Anti-corrosion coating and paint was also applied to 77% of the existing towers on this island.

The retrofitting works of facilities performed by Red Eléctrica were completed with the installation of 2,404 new pieces of telecommunications equipment and 259.25 km of fibre optic cable in the archipelago.

The execution of these actions has considerably reduced the average interruption time (AIT) of 244 minutes in 2010, the year prior to the acquisition of the assets by Red Eléctrica, to just 3 minutes in 2017.

2030 Sustainability Commitment

Also, at this press conference, the Manager of Sustainability and Innovation Area, Fátima Rojas Cimadevila, presented the 2030 Sustainability Commitment; a commitment linked to the Group’s business strategy and which will be undertaken following the spirit of the Red Eléctrica Group in its quest to become a world reference in the field.

This commitment sets out four priorities: to be proactive agents in the fight against climate change through the decarbonisation of the economy; promote a responsible value chain; anticipating change and taking action; and the contribution to social, economic and environmental development.

Red Eléctrica works together with its stakeholders, sharing common values ​​and objectives, and thus generating a responsible value chain. Similarly, it assumes its responsibility to contribute to social, economic and environmental development, providing an essential service in a safe and efficient manner, promoting environmental conservation and involving the community to improve the quality of life of the people.

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