Lanzarote Information

April has been the month for renewable energy conferences, we all have a responsibility to reduce our carbon footprint, what is the island of Lanzarote doing about theirs?

In December 2008 the European Union leaders agreed that in order to combat climate change, a fifth of Europe’s energy had to come from renewable sources within 12 years (2020). The Canary Islands are one of the best areas in Spain for the potential of generating wind energy, and now its been confirmed that we could also produce energy from our waves too.

Waves

Earlier this month the Cabildo of Lanzarote had an open day (14th April) for anyone interested in attending a conference discussing the production of local energy from the sea. There was a presentation from experts on the subject from the University of Catalonia, the event was attended by Manuela Armas the President of the Cabildo and Lourdes Bernal, the local advisor for Industry and Energy. After the presentation there was an open debate on “the sea, a possible resource of power” later Daniel González a member of the Laboratory of Marine Engineering, presented the map of waves for Lanzarote. Ricardo Morals a partner of Hidroflot emphasized the high yield and effectiveness of the technology and the visual impact.

It has been established that the Lanzarote coastline would be suitable to produce wave energy, we can produce 23 kilowatts by linear meter which is very similar to the Bay of Biscay. The North West coast of the island was identified as being one of the best positions to install these devices, especially in the winter months, when the sea here has a greater force.

Wind

Lanzarote already has two wind farms that were installed by private local companies:

The Parque Eólico at Los Valles near Teguise was built in 1991 by Eólica de Lanzarote S.A. a company set up by Inalsa who installed the turbines to supply energy to their desalination plant on the coast between Costa Teguise and Arrecife. This wind farm originally produced 5 MW/h but since the old turbines have been replaced, they have increased their capacity to 7.65 MW/h.

Aena installed the other wind farm at Montaña Mina on the hills behind the airport in 2004, as an alternative energy source to cover the requirements of the Arrecife Airport, and as part of their policy to reduce emissions and protect the environment.

There was an International Conference on Renewable Energies and Power (ICREPQ’09) held in Valencia on the 15-17th April 2009, regarding the installation of offshore wind farms in the Canary Islands. The European Association for the Development of Renewable Energies, Environment and Power Quality (EA4EPQ) believe that the future of wind farms for Europe is undoubtedly offshore. Spain does not currently have any offshore wind farms but it is developing the technology, the Canaries are one of the best places within Spain for wind, but with a limited land area and almost half that land then designated national parks, the sea is the obvious option.

The seven Canary Islands have each been studied to establish possible sites for offshore wind farms, the map to the right, shows the islands with wind and a height of 40m. The Canary Islands are not based on a marine platform, they are individual volcanic peaks with several kilometres depth between them. Once it was established which islands could be suitable sites, the local territories then had to be considered as the offshore turbines are connected to a substation on land by running a cable, these could not be built within national park or marine reserve areas or within shipping routes. The turbines have to be located a minimum of 8km off the coast to reduce the visible impact which is then difficult with the local depths, although in the future it is hoped that technology will improve to increase the height to 200m.

The Canary Islands are part of Spain but have their own Energy Plans, the current one, PECAN (2006) does not contain plans for any offshore wind farms, however the offshore area of the islands is the jurisdiction of Spain.

Each Canary Island has its own electrical supply apart from Lanzarote and Fuerteventura who are linked with a submarine cable, it is unlikely that the smaller islands of El Hierro, La Palma and La Gomera will be developed for offshore wind farms as they have a much smaller population and requirement for electricity, especially as an excess cannot be diverted to other islands.

Three of the seven Canary Islands were identified as passing the requirements for the site of an offshore wind farm, these were La Gomera, Fuerteventura and Gran Canaria. The red outline on the maps below mark the zones (1 in Fuerteventura and 2 in Gran Canaria) identified as possible sites for the turbines on these islands, which would be set in rows facing in the direction of the prevailing wind (NW).

The conclusion of the study was that electrical systems for Lanzarote / Fuerteventura and Gran Canaria could be installed with offshore wind farms but not with the current technology, as the depths of the identified sites exceed 50m but less than 200m. The offshore turbines are sealed to withstand corrosion and a lifespan of 50 years to overcome the maintenance difficulties of their location.

The technology for floating wind turbines are in prototype and likely to be made available in the near future, given the EU ruling for 2020 and the energy crisis.

(The information and images were taken from the ICREPQ’09 report which can be found in full here)

Sun

With our climate and an average of 7-11 hours of sunshine per day depending on the time of year, you would expect to see many more solar panels on buildings around the island. All new build houses now have to have a connection put in for solar water heating but its not a requirement to use it. Generally solar is used to keep the cost of heating swimming pools down and for houses that are remotely situated and then they are used in conjunction with a wind turbine and generator for energy.

Future Plans

Inalsa Director’s have announced plans to replace electric water heaters in their buildings with solar panels and install a 100 KW photovoltaic solar plant at Punta los Vientos power station in Arrecife.

Aena have also carried out feasibility studies to establish if a acclimatization of the terminal buildings could be provided by solar panels and if their own desalination plant could be installed to provide water for the facility.

The Canary Islands have an Institute of Technology (ITC), the company Instituto Tecnológico de Canarias S.A. was formed by the local government in 1992 and created to “Lead Innovation and Technology Transfer in strategic sectors which favour the competitiveness and the Sustainable Development of the Canary Islands and of its geographical and cultural environment, while maintaining Excellence in Management”. They have two offices one in Gran Canaria and the other in Tenerife and employ approximately 172 staff. The ITC has four divisions, one of which is the ‘Division of Energy, Water and Bioengineering’ where research and development of renewable energy is carried out.

There is an ongoing project called Aquamac, Interreg III B 2007-2013, which was approved by the EU to investigate sustainable water management for the Azores, Madeira and Canary Islands.

Summary

Lanzarote has some fantastic resources, we should all be embracing the future and how we can harness the sunshine, trade winds and waves to create local energy.

The island of El Hierro should be powered solely on renewable energy within a year.