Worsening electricity crisis stalls eight per cent of Malaga province's projects in just one month

The recent measures of the central government to release energy reserves for projects that have not yet been implemented have not yielded the expected results.

The introduction of a new system of rising monthly fees for these reserves, which came into effect in June, has not led to an increase in electricity capacity in Malaga, which remains at zero, according to data from e-distribución.

What has increased, however, is the number of projects on the waiting list. According to energy giant Endesa, in June, there were projects on hold requiring 148 megawatts. In July, that figure rose to 153 megawatts and in August it reached 165 megawatts, eight per cent more than in July and eleven per cent more than in June.

In May, there were 142 residential and commercial projects in Malaga put on hold due to the power grid collapse. Between January 2025 and the middle of this year, Endesa rejected 20 housing developments planned for the city and the province due to a lack of capacity.

The situation has only worsened in recent months. Currently, the substations with the highest unmet demand for electricity are in towns on the Costa del Sol such as Marbella and Estepona, where residential developments are unable to secure the electricity they need to get off the ground. The congestion at these connection points extends to towns such as Manilva, Torremolinos, Benahavís, Casares, Fuengirola, Tolox and Vélez-Málaga.

Furthermore, there are waiting lists at two substations in Malaga city, San Sebastián and Polígono, where, the city council has estimated, around 13,000 homes are demanding supply.

The saturation of the electricity transmission grid, which is the result of poor planning, has for over a year led Endesa to issue reports refusing to authorise operations exceeding five megawatts of power (equivalent to around 750 homes).

The limit is reduced to one megawatt (around 150 homes) in the case of the Costa del Sol and in some projects in Malaga city, as grid congestion is further exacerbated by delays to two substations.

The central government hoped that the new quotas for electricity reserves would make it possible to release energy in the face of delays to the planned new infrastructure.

This has not happened in Malaga or, as a matter of fact, in other Andalusian provinces as well. Almeria and Cadiz still have zero capacity for new supplies.

In contrast, in Seville, available capacity has increased significantly between July and August, rising from 131 megawatts to 329. The waiting list for unmet demand, however, has also grown from 111 to 124 megawatts.

Cordoba has also seen some improvement in recent months. Its capacity has risen from 77 megawatts available in July to 99 in August. Huelva has risen from 33 to 35.

In contrast, in other provinces, such as Granada and Jaén, it has fallen slightly, from 184 in July to 179 in August and from ten to nine, respectively.

The figures show that, the electricity shortage is affecting Malaga the most, compared to other Andalusian provinces. It has the highest unmet demand and its supply capacity has remained at zero for months.

This is causing projects to opt for other locations, as there is no guarantee of electricity supply, without this delaying the approval of the land development project.

This is the case of a synthetic diamond factory for microchips, which has ruled out investing one billion euros to set up in Malaga due to a lack of electricity. Finally, Diamond Foundry, a US company in which Leonardo DiCaprio holds a stake, will establish its new plant in Spain in Zaragoza. Malaga could only grant it one megawatt of power instead of five.

In May this year, director of the TechPark in Malaga Felipe Romera stated that "energy is the major problem" in Malaga province. It will take several years for a long-term solution, as it depends on the construction of energy transmission infrastructure, which is taking a considerable amount of time.

Of the three substations in Red Eléctrica's current five-year plan (2021-2026) for the Costa del Sol, only one, in Marbella, is operational. The other two have not yet been commissioned.

The one in Benahavís has been ready for seven years now but legal disputes involving land owners are holding it up. The one in Mijas is still awaiting environmental permits from the regional government, although the application process has made progress in recent months.

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