El Hierro will be the first island in the world to be supplied 100% with renewable energy thanks to the Gorona del Viento Hydroelectric Power Plant, an initiative of the El Hierro Cabildo with support from the Institute for Diversification and Energy Saving (IDAE).
The plant, a project that emerged in 1997 and is currently undergoing tests, will begin operating on a regular basis starting in June, Enrique Hernández Bento, Undersecretary of Industry, Energy and Tourism, announced today during the Forum “ El Hierro, first 100% renewable island “, framed within El Hierro Week in Madrid.
This infrastructure has two water tanks, one lower with a capacity of 150, 000 cubic meters and the other with a capacity of 380, 000, joined by four turbines with a reaction time of less than three seconds.
It also has a five-generator wind farm, a 6 MW pumping station and a diesel engine plant, which will be operational in exceptional emergency cases.
Alpidio Armas, President of the Cabildo de El Hierro, has confirmed in this act that Gorona del Viento will produce enough energy to supply the entire population with blacksmithing while the surplus It will be used to pump the water between the two deposits, which will generate more energy.
Weapons has added that `` soon we will see the first results '' since, since June, it is planned to avoid the emission of 18, 700 tons of Co2 per year, as well as a saving of 6, 000 tons in diesel barrels.
This project is part of the plan of specific aid to El Hierro and therefore has received the subsidy of 35 million euros from the Ministry of Industry.
Its ownership is public / private, since 60% belongs to the Cabildo de Canarias, 30% to Endesa and 10% to the Technological Institute of the Canary Islands, according to Hern ndez Bento .
It has the latest technologies and intends to become a role model for other islands and even a world benchmark for sustainability, according to Hernández Bento, in addition to tourist reference point for the peninsula and an important socio-economic incentive for the islanders.
El Hierro, the first self-sufficient island thanks to renewable energy
