Malaga electricity: regional government warns lack of investment blocks 4,000 homes

The Andalusian regional government estimates a 54-million-euro deficit in the investment planned between 2025 and 2030 for electricity transmission in Malaga province.

The plan was prepared by the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge.

Speaking in Vélez-Málaga on Thursday 29 January, the representative of the Andalusian government in Malaga, Patricia Navarro, warned that this lack of investment could have a direct impact on the economic, industrial and social development of the province. Navarro said that the state document "does not respond to the real needs of the province".

The regional government is calling for the incorporation of 17 new projects, which would increase the total investment to 91 million euros and would enable 47 of them to be carried out in the Malaga electricity network.

During a press conference held together with the mayor of Velez, Jesús Lupiáñez and the regional spokesperson for industry, energy and mines, Antonio Jesús García, Navarro used Vélez-Málaga as an example of the blockage caused by the lack of electricity capacity.

"In the case of Vélez-Málaga, almost 4,000 homes are going to be blocked, in one of the towns with the highest population growth in the province," she said.

Lupiáñez warned of the "energy strangulation", which he believes the central government's proposal represents. The mayor pointed out that this situation could affect not only the construction of new housing , but also large productive investments, as well as strategic projects such as the future desalination plant, given Vélez-Málaga's status as the 'capital' of the Axarquía.

The mayor warned that the electricity grid is already operating above its capacity, which has led to the denial of access permits for urban development sectors already approved in the PGOU (general urban plan).

Among the paralysed projects are developments such as La Fortaleza and Camino del Higueral II, in addition to other residential and industrial sectors ready to move forward, with overall investments exceeding 700 million euros, according to municipal data.

According to the data provided by the Junta, the Ministry proposes an investment of 37 million euros for 30 projects in the province, of which only six respond to requests previously formulated by the Andalusian government in March 2024. Furthermore, 65 per cent of the budget is earmarked for the adaptation of existing infrastructures, with a "limited" regional impact.

Other projects which Navarro believes will be affected are the Los Montes-Nerja-Saleres 220 kV power line, together with the new Nerja substation, infrastructures which do not appear in the ministerial proposal. According to the Junta, they are key to meeting the growth of the Axarquía as well as the Costa Tropical and the Alpujarra area, both in Granada province. New substations are also requested in Antequera and Malaga city, as well as the reinforcement of several high-voltage lines.

Navarro warned that there are already three large business projects that could not be developed with the current plan, but which would be viable with the investments requested by the Junta. "We are talking about more than 800 million euros in private investment and the creation of more than 10,000 direct jobs," she said.

"Malaga needs to be electrically structured so as not to slow down its growth," concluded Navarro, who called for a "real commitment" from the central government. "It cannot be that one of the provinces where the State collects the most revenue is, at the same time, one of those that receives the least investment in strategic infrastructure," she said.