The island of El Hierro (bottom left on the map) in the Canary Islands of Spain announced recently they hope to be completely energy independent within the next year. There are only 10,000 inhabitants on the island of El Hierro, and they have been planning their alternative energy sources for the past 10 years. The president of the Cabildo in El Hierro also worked at the energy company which helped when revolutionising the power to renewable energy. Gonzalo explains that the island will be powered by a wind farm, which will store any excess power by pumping water up to a reservoir, which can then produce hydro power when there’s no wind or extra power is required.
Watch this short BBC film to find out more and to see the Canary Island of El Hierro.
An island has the chance to be a pioneer, they can prove that it is possible to be self sufficient from renewable energy and then those systems can be replicated for others.
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