Gorona del Viento today announced its preliminary market consultation “to seek innovative solutions for energy generation and storage systems using photovoltaic energy and batteries for the El Hierro Wind-Pumped Hydro Power Station”. The aim is to provide a means for businesses, universities, research centres and other key energy market players to contribute ideas for improving the Island’s energy efficiency through the use of renewable energy sources and/or storage systems. This would increase the contribution of renewables to the island’s electricity system.
Currently, thanks to the Wind-Pumped Hydro Power Station, almost 60% of the island’s demand for electricity is being met in this way, and these figures are gradually rising as the innovative system gains experience. It is important to bear in mind that the Power Station is a pioneering project, and one that poses challenges in many areas, including operation and maintenance. Santiago González, Gorona del Viento’s Chief Executive Officer commented: “To achieve total coverage, we need to look at other types of technologies and activities to increase the Power Station’s capacity and boost its efficiency, and we need to develop strategies to maintain the supply over the long term”.
The deadline for submission of proposals is one month from the day the announcement was published on the Public Sector Contracting Platform, 21 July 2020. In addition, a link to the consultation has been provided on the Platform Portal; it may also be accessed via the Contractor Profile on the company’s website: http://www.goronadelviento.es/perfil-del-contratante/
Energy and Water Webinar
Santiago González also spoke about the preliminary market consultation, and about Gorona del Viento El Hierro’s Master Plan in his contribution to the webinar, “Energy Efficiency and renewable energies in the industrial cycle of water on the Canary Islands”. The webinar was organised by the Council for Ecological Transformation, Fight against Climate Change, and The Canary Islands Government’s Land Planning Department, and backed by the General Energy Directorate and the Land Planning Directorate, along with the Canary Islands Institute of Technology.
Mr González set out the immediate challenges of energy efficiency and respect for the environment on the island territory, and how El Hierro can be the driving force behind energy transition in the Archipelago.
Subjects receiving special attention in this morning’s webinar presentations included energy-water duality (which plays such an important role in the scheme): water to generate energy, and energy to supply the same resource through desalination, water extraction from wells, and the distribution network.
