La Gomera to generate 70% of its energy from wind

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...).

Green light for green energy

Wind and sun power this electric car charging-point in Hermigua

La Gomera's island government has provisionally approved the allocation of initially 500.000 Euros in subsidies for the installation of photo-voltaic panels by private house owners and businesses. Grants of up to 60% of the cost of the installation of solar energy systems will be paid out with a maximum of 12.000 Euros for small to medium enterprises and up to 24.000 Euros for private household installations. This announcement by the island's president Casimiro Curbelo was made last Friday and is a further step towards La Gomera's ambitious plan towards becoming independent of external energy sources. This well-intentioned plan has sadly suffered delays in the past due to the energy-supplying companies dragging their feet while their ageing diesel-powered electricity generating station keeps belching out thick smoke in the island's capital, so above news is most welcome.

Further, thinkspain.com reported some time ago:

''The Canarian island of La Gomera is aiming to be powered 100% by 'green' energy sources within 12 years, slashing its power costs by 37%.

La Gomera, just off the coast of Tenerife, will be the second island in the region to try to go completely 'renewable' after El Hierro attempted it between 2014 and 2016.

The latter survived for months on wind energy alone and, in 2016, covered 39% of its electricity needs using wind farms – then, in January and February this year, had all 10,700 of its inhabitants supplied entirely by renewable sources for 18 consecutive days.

But La Gomera's plans are far more ambitious – the westernmost island in the Canaries (Ed: no, that's La Palma) currently depends upon fossil fuel for 99% of its power needs and, aside from a handful of solar panels owned by private individuals, has just two wind generators of 0.4 megawatts (MW) of power.

Despite La Gomera being famous Europe-wide for its extensive forests, being the home of the Garajonay National Park and a pioneer in 'eco-tourism' dating back over 20 years, its obvious potential for powering itself through entirely renewable sources is wasted more than anywhere else in the Canary Islands.

The regional government wants to turn La Gomera into another Iceland by 2030, mirroring Europe's northernmost country's 100% green energy supply.

By then, it aims to have enough wind farms to create 8MW of power, sufficient solar panels to generate 5MW, and for 20% of the island's cars to be electrically-powered.

The overall objective is for the island, whose population is twice that of El Hierro and which has tourist resorts with capacity for 800 visitors (Ed: surely an error - see this post), to be entirely fossil-fuel free and rely on green energy for its electricity, heating and transport – lorries and buses will be electric or hydrogen-powered.

Hydrogen generators, water pumps and storage systems are being analysed as back-up for when there is insufficient wind and sun to cover the whole island's energy needs.

The considerable cost of this ambitious project would be offset within around seven to 12 years thanks to lower production expenses, meaning that by 2042 La Gomera will start to see a return on its investment.''

Wind turbine blown down

The blown down wind turbine near Epina (Images: gomeranoticias.com)

The recent gales and storm force winds have blown down one of La Gomera's two wind tubines situated on a high ridge near the village of Epina in the island's west. The two windmills there were erected in 1996 and ironically the one destroyed had only recently been refurbished, while the other which survived the gales was turned off at the time of the incident awaiting refurbishment. The two wind turbines generated over 500 kw/h of electricity last year. The strong winds gusted over 100 km/h in La Gomera's mountains several times in recent days and for the next few days it will stay very windy and gusty in exposed areas. Warnings of strong winds gusting 75 km/h have been issued for Friday Feb.2nd 2018, and for Saturday. For Saturday there's an additional warning of rough seas. However, even today it is very windy here again and the weather station on La Gomera's highest peak recorded a wind gust of 93 km/h at 9:40 am.

Island of El Hierro exemplary in renewable energy

Our smaller neighbouring island to the south, El Hierro, has become self-sufficient in electrical energy. The Spanish daily El Pais reports:

An aerial view of the Gorona del Viento wind-hydro plant. / DESIREE MARTIN (AFP)

In the coming decades the system will save El Hierro around €80 million that would have been spent on 6,000 tons of diesel each year

El Hierro, the smallest and most westerly of the Canary Islands, has become the first isolated territory in the world to meet all its energy needs using renewables. For four hours from 12 noon on Sunday August 9, the Gorona del Viento wind-hydro power station generated all the electricity for the tiny island of 10,000 inhabitants using clean energy – the culmination of a project that began 30 years ago.

“It’s amazing!” says Gonzalo Piernavieja, head of research, development and innovation at the Canaries Technological Institute, one of the entities taking part in the local council-led project, along with power company Endesa and the Canary Islands regional government.
The Gorona del Viento wind-hydro power station has been hooked up to five wind-powered generators that together are able to produce the 35 GW/h the island requires. In the coming decades the system will save El Hierro around €80 million that would have been spent on 6,000 tons of diesel each year, as well as reducing carbon emissions by around 20,000 tons annually.

The project, which has cost €82 million, has been hailed as a major achievement around the world. It represents the first time that wind and hydro power have been combined. Once the wind farm has generated enough energy to meet the island’s needs, the excess is fed into the power station’s pumps, which raise water from a reservoir located at sea level to a height of 700 meters. On days when the wind is not sufficient to provide the required energy, the hydraulic installation comes into play. The water is channeled back down to the lower reservoir, moving the turbines that produce the electricity needed for the island.
Around 80 percent of El Hierro’s energy is already produced via renewables, but that figure can rise to 100 percent for certain periods, sometimes of up to a week, says Piernavieja. “There are Pacific islands with fewer than 1,000 inhabitants, as well as some African communities, that have also been able to meet all their energy needs using renewables, but nothing compares to what we have achieved on El Hierro, both in terms of the number of people we are supplying, as well as the fact that our system is not connected to the outside world, and is housed entirely on the island.”

Belén Allende, the head of the local council on El Hierro, says she is proud of the achievement: “This is a day that will be remembered by the rest of the world.” She hopes that El Hierro’s know-how will be used by other islands. “There are around 17 million people living on islands in Europe, and 600 million across the planet,” she says, adding that the plan now is for El Hierro to become a kind of open-air laboratory for other environmental initiatives. Representatives from Japan, Taiwan and the Faroe Islands have recently visited El Hierro to look at how to adapt the technology to their own needs.

Petrol or Diesel ? No thank you !

Plenty of energy for free in the Canary Islands

There are several public charging points for electric cars all over La Gomera. The fairly new one below is about a mile west of Hermigua on the main road to Agulo. Here you can charge your car with a mix of solar and wind power. All we need now is affordable electric cars.

Wind and sun power this electric car charging-point