Islands’ Electric Systems Struggle with Diesel Dependency
The Canary Islands are grappling with a significant reliance on diesel for electricity generation, particularly La Palma, which sources 92.2% of its power from diesel. This is followed by La Gomera at 89.2% and Lanzarote at 88.8%. In total, just 21% of the electricity consumed across the archipelago in 2025 came from renewable sources, such as wind, solar, and hydro power. This is an improvement from previous years but still far from the revolution in renewable energy anticipated by local institutions.
Last year, the islands emitted 4.9 million tonnes of carbon dioxide due to this high reliance on fossil fuels, making up 16.6% of Spain’s total emissions, despite the Canary Islands having only a small proportion of the national population. These emissions result from an outdated energy generation system.
Despite over €1.7 billion in European funding available for ecological transition since 2021, the region’s government has seen low levels of project execution. The latest report from Red Eléctrica highlights that three of the seven island electrical systems are heavily reliant on diesel, with record percentages in the aforementioned islands.
Conversely, Fuerteventura benefits from a higher penetration of wind energy, with only 67.4% of its generation from diesel. El Hierro has made strides with its hydroelectric plant, generated 43.6% of its power from renewable sources, and had 178 consecutive hours where only renewable energy was used.
In 2025, the islands had an installed electric capacity of 3,438 megawatts, with 1,044 megawatts from renewable sources—30% of the total. However, electricity generation from non-polluting sources only managed to meet 21% of total demand, illustrating the need for more progress in renewable energy adoption. The total electricity generated last year was 8,998 gigawatt-hours, with renewables contributing 1,889 gigawatt-hours.
Tenerife was the largest electricity consumer in 2025, accounting for 40.2% of total demand, while Gran Canaria followed with 37.6%. Overall consumption in the autonomous community increased by 1.1% compared to the previous year.
