Parts for the new wind turbines arriving in the port of San Sebastian de La Gomera last month (Image: gomeranoticias.com)
Finally the planned construction of wind tubines in La Gomera is going ahead and the arrival last month of the first large parts for the wind turbines heralds the end for the ageing and very smelly diesel generator driven power station in the island's capital San Sebastian de La Gomera.
The new large windmills will be constructed in three wind parks in the mountains above the capital, one of them near 'El Camello'. This desolate spot once had indeed camel stables, then it housed a discotheque and nightclub, and after that had closed down refugees from Africa were housed there in container homes.
The three wind parks, once completed, will generate up to seven megawatts of electricity and should cover 70% of the island's 10MW average demand.
The plan to generate all of La Gomera's electricity from renewable sources was drawn up in 2019 and the arrival of the first segments of the windmills was hailed as a historic moment by the authorities.
The aim is to become 100% self sufficient in electricity generation and the next step in the island government's plan is the construction of solar photovoltaic parks to augment wind energy and to provide stability of the grid. Some of the diesel generators will probably remain on stand-by.
The new windmills will hopefully be a lot more reliable and sturdy than the only two previous turbines near Epina that never worked very well. One of them even got blown down in a storm a few years ago (more here...).
