Red Eléctrica, a Redeia company responsible for the operation and transmission of the national electricity system, has begun the laying phase of the new submarine electricity link between the islands of Tenerife and La Gomera. This interconnection will be crucial for ensuring security of supply on La Gomera, enabling greater integration of renewable energy, and achieving a reduction in overall generation costs by connecting the systems of both islands.
The cable ship Cable Enterprise , one of the most modern vessels in the fleet of the company Prysmian, a world leader in submarine cables, begins laying the new double submarine electrical circuit between La Gomera and Tenerife on the island of La Gomera, which will connect the new substations of El Palmar, in La Gomera, and Chío, in Tenerife.
The work will last a month and will begin with the laying of the first 66kV circuit from the island of La Gomera to Punta Blanca, the point of interconnection with Tenerife. The Cable Enterprise will then return to La Gomera to lay the second circuit. The project is expected to complete all work by early October, with the goal of completing the entire link by the end of the year.
This 66 kV double-circuit underground-submarine line, with a transmission capacity of 50 MVA per circuit, consists of an underwater section approximately 36 km long, running at a maximum depth of 1,145 m, and two land sections in La Gomera and Tenerife.
The submarine interconnection between Tenerife and La Gomera, scheduled to be operational by the end of the year, is included in the 2021-2026 Electricity Transmission Grid Development Plan and includes the underground-submarine power line and two new substations: El Palmar in La Gomera and Chío in Tenerife. The former was recently completed, and the latter in Chío has been operational since the beginning of this year.
This is the deepest 66 kV three-pole AC submarine link in the world, requiring an adapted cable design, reinforced with lightweight materials capable of withstanding the demanding requirements of the environment in which the cable will be installed.
Furthermore, due to its length and complexity, the cable’s arrival on both islands has posed a challenge in ensuring the protection of the biodiversity of the shallower waters, given the unique nature of the highly heterogeneous volcanic soils. To achieve this, the directional drilling technique was used, which introduces the cable into the sea through a microtunnel with an exit hundreds of meters from the coast, eliminating any impact on the biological communities along the drilled section of the coast.
The route of the interconnection has been designed to minimize the landscape impact and ensure maximum protection of vegetation and wildlife in the areas it passes through.
