Back in the Race: Achieving 100% Renewable Energy in the Canary Islands

The canary islands are an archipelago of 7,447 km2 and 2,127,685 inhabitants (2018), situated to the northwest of Africa (Figure 1). The islands are an autonomous community of Spain. There are eight inhabited islands and six isolated power grids, as Fuerteventura, Lanzarote, and La Graciosa are an interconnected system. The available amount of solar energy is quite high, reaching values of approximately 1,900 kWh/kilowatt peak (kwp)/year in favorable locations. Wind is also an important renewable resource, mostly during summer.