The construction of the hydroelectric power plant in Tenerife in the Badajoz ravine (Güímar) – the preferred location for the promoting company and the authorities – is delayed. The main reason for this delay is the Supreme Court’s (TS) postponement in resolving the cassation appeals filed by the condemned businessmen – for crimes against natural resources and the environment – against the ruling that obliges them to pay €185 million in compensation for damage caused by nearly fifty years of aggregate extraction.
The Supreme Court has been reviewing appeals from businessmen Antonio Plasencia and Enrique Morales, as well as from the companies Áridos del Sur, SL, and Hermanos Morales Martín, SL, since 2022. The resolution of these appeals is crucial for moving forward with a project intended to stabilise the energy supply for Tenerife. Its development would require the use of two quarries formed by the aggregate extraction: those located near the general South road (TF-28) and the one bordering the South motorway (TF-1).
Background on Aggregate Extraction
On 9 April 2008, the last of the six aggregate operations that remained active, El Fregenal, officially closed. On 19 January 2016, a trial began against the industrialists owning these quarries, which, nine and a half years later, still remains unresolved. Notably, the Second Section of the Provincial Court issued a ruling on 21 January 2021 declaring “the impossibility” of restoring the area, while establishing a joint compensation of €185 million. Its payment is pending the Supreme Court’s decision.
Current Developments
Beatriz Corredor, chairwoman of Redeia, the group to which Red Eléctrica – the company responsible for this project – belongs, stated that studies have been conducted on several locations, all of which agree that Güímar is the most suitable site. She made these remarks in mid-March 2023. The municipal government hopes to soon understand the status of the project, although it is aware that its execution will be delayed. One reason for this is that a change in the land classification for the selected site for the pumped hydroelectric power station, currently subject to the Mines Law, is required.
Local Concerns
Within the local government of Güímar, doubts have arisen regarding the project. The councillor for Concessionary Companies, and one of the initiators of the legal process against the extracting businessmen, Francisco Hernández Armas, believes that the height difference between the two quarries intended for the power station “is insufficient” to generate the required energy. In his view, the originally proposed water lift from Anocheza was a more appropriate solution.
Moreover, Güímar will not benefit from the €185 million in compensation that the businessmen are ordered to pay, a point the mayor, Carmen Luisa Castro, intends to discuss with the Government of the Canary Islands, which will receive the entire sum.
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