The province of Málaga maintains its available electrical capacity at zero and now accumulates 185 megawatts of unmet demand, 21% more than in July. In contrast, Sevilla has doubled its available energy this summer.
The province of Málaga continues to have no available electrical capacity, and the waiting list of projects unable to connect to the grid keeps growing. Data released by Endesa in September, reported by Diario Sur, confirms that the pending demand has risen from 153 megawatts in July to 185 in September, an increase of 21%. The Málaga territory is the most affected by this situation in Andalucía.
In total, there are 143 stalled projects in Málaga: 16 residential, eight industrial (including a business park), 12 data processing centres, 97 electricity storage facilities, and a dozen various supplies.
The situation is different in the province of Sevilla, where the available electrical capacity has doubled this summer, rising from 131 megawatts in July to 261 in September. Additionally, the energy demand on the waiting list in Sevilla has been halved, from 111 to 68 megawatts.
Last March, a royal decree came into effect that replaced the economic guarantee for reserving electrical supply with a growing monthly fee. The Ministry for Ecological Transition set a deadline until mid-June for developers to recover their guarantee and renounce the reserved energy. Those who did not do so faced monthly payments that represent an increase of between 300% and over 1,000% annually in the cash flow needed to retain those megawatts.
Despite this increase in costs, Málaga's electrical capacity remains at zero. The Secretary of State for Energy, Joan Groizard, explained that the difference between provinces depends on the type of projects and the interest in ensuring pending investments.
“Every quarter, the cost of hoarding electrical energy will increase, so it is not unlikely that some projects will give up and generate capacity.”
Groizard, who met this Thursday with the Government's sub-delegate, Javier Salas, to discuss the planning of electrical infrastructures, expressed hope that in the coming months capacity will be freed up due to the renunciation of some reserves.
The City Council of Málaga estimates that around 13,000 planned homes are stalled due to the lack of electrical capacity. The Proposed Planning of the Electrical Grid until 2030, which is expected to be approved before the end of the year, includes two new substations for the province and the expansion of a third. The construction of the Málaga Centro substation, at 220 kilovolts, has been accepted, but a location has yet to be determined; it is up to the City Council and the Junta to find the optimal site. Another new substation will be built in Antequera to supply the Dry Port, and the third action is the expansion of the Cártama substation to accommodate new developments in Guadalhorce and the growth of the Technological Park.
Groizard admitted that it will take several years before they can be executed. A minimum of five years is the usual timeframe for approving and executing this type of infrastructure. Of the three substations planned in the previous five-year plan of the Electrical Grid (2021-2026) on the Coast, only one, in the Marbella area, is operational. The one in Benahavís has been completed for seven years but is blocked due to litigation from the owners of land needed to install some towers. A Supreme Court ruling has already cleared the way for occupying the land, but now it is the High Court of Justice of Andalucía that must order the execution of the ruling.
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