Microgrid
ProjectsSubmit a project

Home / Directory / La Gomera

Africa & Middle East / Commercial & demonstration

La Gomera

Current status, energy mix, organizations, suppliers, equipment, controls, reported specifications, and project updates—with source-level citations.

CoverageDetailed public record
Named organizations6
System facts15
Sources reviewed10
Evidence reviewed2026-07-20

The La Gomera record is best understood as Endesa/Unelco's STORE flywheel demonstration, not the island's entire roughly 22 MW electricity system. ABB/PowerCorp supplied a 0.5 MW PowerStore flywheel at Playa Santiago, Alajeró, to provide automatic frequency and voltage support. The original installation entered service in December 2013, completed its experimental program, and was definitively disconnected in November 2018. A 2020 Canary Islands authorization allowed relocation to the El Palmar diesel plant; Endesa later describes a La Gomera flywheel operating as an auxiliary grid-quality asset, but a commissioning notice that conclusively links the relocated unit was not located.

Research status
Original Playa Santiago demonstration retired; probable relocation/continued auxiliary use remains incompletely documented. The official 2020 authorization records the 2018 definitive disconnection, approves construction of a 0.5 MW flywheel installation at El Palmar, and cites measured improvement in frequency response and grid quality during the pilot. Endesa's current storage page says a flywheel operates on La Gomera, creating evidence of later operation but without a commissioning date or serial-number trail. Separately, the Tenerife-La Gomera submarine interconnection entered service on April 23, 2026; Spanish regulation now treats the two islands as one non-peninsular electrical system, so La Gomera is no longer an electrically isolated island grid.
Historical classification
Island
Reported capacity
See component specifications
Coordinates
28.10330, -17.21936
Evidence note: “Every company” cannot be proven from public material alone. This page lists every organization found in the recovered record and reviewed sources, preserves unknown roles, and explicitly marks undisclosed controller or equipment details.
Report missing evidenceResearch methodology

Project delivery

Who was involved in La Gomera?

6 publicly identified organizations. Where a recovered source named a participant without explaining its work, the role remains explicitly unspecified.

Organization

ABB

Publicly named participant; role not specified in the recovered record [1]

Organization

ABB / PowerCorp

Flywheel, inverter, and microgrid-stabilization technology supplier for the original demonstration. [2][3]

Organization

Government of the Canary Islands

Electrical-installation regulator; documented the pilot's operating outcome, disconnection, and authorization for relocation to El Palmar. [4]

Organization

Power Corp - ABB

Publicly named participant; role not specified in the recovered record [1]

Organization

Red Eléctrica de España

Developer/operator of the 66 kV Tenerife-La Gomera interconnection and associated Chío and El Palmar substations. [8][9]

Organization

Unelco-Endesa / Endesa

Promoter and operator of the STORE demonstration and applicant for relocation to the El Palmar diesel station; current utility source describes flywheel frequency support on the island. [4][5]

System evidence

Energy mix, capacity, and specifications

Values can describe different project phases, generation sources, storage systems, or other components. Source citations are attached to each figure so discrepancies remain visible.

Storage
Flywheel [1]
Flywheel power
0.5 MW for the original STORE installation and the authorized El Palmar relocation [4][3]
Flywheel stored energy and duration
18 MW-seconds, equivalent to 5 kWh, and 36 seconds at rated 0.5 MW in the Comillas technical description. MW-seconds is an energy unit and must not be misreported as 18 MW of power. [3]
Flywheel rotational speed
3,600 rpm at full charge in the original technical description [3]
Tenerife-La Gomera interconnection
66 kV double-circuit link, approximately 36 km submarine route with underground land sections; entered service April 23, 2026 [9][10]

Controls and hardware

Equipment and controller details

Manufacturer and model are shown only when a source names them. Generic descriptions are not converted into guessed product assignments.

01

Flywheel energy storage

ABB / PowerCorp — PowerStore

Low-speed flywheel rated 0.5 MW and 18 MW-seconds in the project technical paper, used for rapid active-power absorption/injection and automatic frequency and voltage support. [2][3][4]

02

Power conversion

ABB / PowerCorp

Two IGBT-based inverters connect the flywheel to the grid in the technical design. Specific converter product numbers were not located. [3]

03

Interconnection infrastructure

Model not publicly disclosed

The 2026 link includes a double-circuit submarine cable and the Chío (Tenerife) and El Palmar (La Gomera) substations, changing the operating boundary from a standalone island to an interconnected two-island system. [8][9][10]

Technical record

Architecture, performance, and project updates

Concise technical facts, milestones, operating results, and later developments. Dated notes distinguish historical design claims from current evidence.

  • Storage

    Flywheel [1]

  • Grid-service function

    The flywheel automatically absorbs short wind-power surges and supplies short lulls, emulating primary frequency regulation and supporting voltage. Its seconds-scale energy is suited to stabilization, not long-duration island backup. [2][4]

  • Demonstrated outcome

    In its 2018 notice to the Canary government, the operator reported a notable improvement in system frequency response and grid quality, then declared the STORE experimental phase complete and definitively disconnected the Playa Santiago unit. [4]

  • Relocation evidence conflict

    The 2020 resolution authorizes construction at El Palmar and Endesa's later storage page says a La Gomera flywheel is operating as an auxiliary service. However, no located public commissioning record explicitly closes the chain from the disconnected Playa Santiago unit to an operating relocated asset, so current physical status is not fully verified. [4][5]

  • 2023 island blackout context

    A July 30, 2023 fire affected seven of nine generator sets at El Palmar and caused an island-wide outage; the Canary government later said full restoration took more than 60 hours and imposed a €12.1 million sanction on Unelco. The sources do not attribute the event to the flywheel, and a 5 kWh stabilizer could not provide long-duration replacement generation. [6][7]

  • 2026 boundary change

    The Tenerife-La Gomera interconnection entered service April 23, 2026. A June 2026 ministerial order formally redefined the islands as one electrical system, ending La Gomera's status as a standalone island grid even if local diesel and flywheel assets continue operating. [8][10]

  • Open evidence gaps

    No definitive relocated-flywheel commissioning certificate, current availability, maintenance history, measured response-event data, annual avoided curtailment, or quantified fuel savings was located. Current island energy mix after the April 2026 interconnection also was not yet available. [4][5][10]

Provenance

10 sources

Primary owner, government, university, supplier, and engineering sources are preferred. Archived references preserve claims whose original pages moved or disappeared.

  1. [1]
    Recovered Microgrid Projects record

    Internet Archive · Archived source · captured 2020-07-06

  2. [2]
  3. [3]
    Inertial Energy Storage Systems: Flywheel Energy Storage in La Gomera

    Institute for Research in Technology, Comillas Pontifical University · Primary source

  4. [4]
    Authorization for the 0.5 MW flywheel installation at El Palmar diesel plant

    Official Gazette of the Canary Islands · Primary source

  5. [5]
  6. [6]
  7. [7]
  8. [8]
  9. [9]
    Tenerife-La Gomera Link

    Red Eléctrica de España · Primary source

  10. [10]

Continue exploring

Related projects in Africa & Middle East