The Spanish Geological and Mining Institute (IGME-CSIC) has released the documentary “1977: The Challenge of Deep Geothermal Energy in Lanzarote,” a production that reconstructs one of the most significant scientific projects in Spanish geothermal history: the drilling of the Lanzarote-1 well, carried out between September and December 1978 in Timanfaya National Park.
Through firsthand accounts, scientific documentation, photographs, and contemporary press reports, the documentary relives the context, development, and results of this pioneering initiative, which reached a depth of 2,702 meters—the largest land-based drilling record in the Canary Islands to date.
The project emerged as part of the energy diversification efforts following the oil crisis of the 1970s. During that decade and the following one, IGME led intensive geothermal research activities in Lanzarote, Gran Canaria, Tenerife, and La Palma, seeking to characterize the heat potential of the volcanic subsurface.
The Hilario Islet area, where temperatures of up to 600°C are recorded at just 15 meters deep, was the focus of studies in Lanzarote. The Lanzarote-1 survey was carried out there, an unprecedented scientific project that, while not yielding favorable results for immediate energy use, provided valuable geological knowledge for the archipelago.
With the fall in oil prices in the 1990s, many studies were suspended and the drilling infrastructure dismantled. However, the current boom in renewable energy and support from European funds have revived interest in deep geothermal energy in the Canary Islands, with new exploration permits being granted to public and private companies.
This documentary not only recovers an essential part of the history of energy in Spain, but also opens the door to reflection on the present and future of geothermal energy in volcanic contexts like the Canary Islands.
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Source: IGME (Linkedin) via our Spanish language platform, PiensaGeotermia
