Analysis of the Water-Energy Nexus Applied to an Insular System: Case Study of Tenerife

Abstract

Insular territories face important challenges in achieving effective sustainable development, mainly due to low internal availability of basic resources, which results in a high external dependency. The analysis of the energy–water nexus of islands is a powerful instrument to evaluate the sustainable goals of the region and to identify the key actions to take to fulfill these objectives in future scenarios. The aim of this study is to review the energy–water nexus applied to Tenerife (Canary Islands), considering three scenarios: the base case scenario, corresponding to the current situation, where 1.1% of consumed water is dedicated to energy production and 10.2% of the energy is supplied for water abstraction, depuration, and ocean discharge; and two projections for the year 2050: a maintained trend scenario, and an ecology-aware scenario, where the population growth and the deployment of electrical vehicles are considered. In 2018, the total energy consumed was 1954 ktoe, of which renewable energy made up 2%. In the maintained trend scenario, this amount rises to 2003 ktoe, of which renewable energies represent 29%. However, in the ecology-aware scenario, this amount could be reduced to 1710 ktoe of which 51% of energy is obtained from renewable sources.