The island councilor for Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, Javier Parrilla, assures that the Cabildo de Tenerife, through the public company Balsas de Tenerife (Balten), advances in the implementation of the first phase of the Energy Rebalancing Plan, with which it is intended to reduce energy and environmental costs and limit CO2 emissions into the atmosphere.
This first phase, which consists of four actions, has an initial budget of 888,958 euros and will result in an estimated annual saving of 650 kilowatt hours per year, “which at the current price of energy could mean a cost equivalent to that of the investment initial in little more than a year”, explains Javier Parrilla.
The island manager recalls that, “since the 2020 financial year, Balten has focused on the implementation of a sustainable energy strategy in the infrastructures it manages”. Specifically, projects are proposed for new renewable installations “that can provide a guarantee of power and reduce the corresponding energy cost overruns”.
The first phase of the energy rebalancing project includes the installation of photovoltaic panels in the Valle San Lorenzo reservoir, with an investment of 450,281 euros; at the Isla Baja facilities, in El Ravelo (267,987 euros); at the Santa Cruz de Tenerife fire station (74,497 euros), and at the El Tablero discharge tank (96,192 euros). The last two are in the process of prior award, whose tender was attended by a total of nine specialized companies in the renewable energy sector.
“As the main axis, we set ourselves the objective of committing to decarbonisation, investing in green infrastructure, so that we move from fossil energies to a clean energy system,” says Ana Sánchez Espada, manager of Balten.
The second phase, which will be carried out in 2023, has a budget of 495,000 euros, which will mean a global investment of almost 1.4 million euros. In this regard, Parrilla recalls that the strategy initiated by Balten is aligned with Spain’s Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR), which outlines the roadmap for the modernization of the Spanish economy, to contribute to the reconstruction process of economies in the post-COVID era.
Within this axis of ecological transition, the PRTR includes, among its challenges and objectives, that Spain is in a position to address the necessary decarbonisation of the energy system and includes, in accordance with the provisions of the National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan (PNIEC) ), a vision of the insular specificity in the energy transition and the promotion of renewable energies in the islands.
reclaimed water
Javier Parrilla stresses that “reclaimed water is the present and future of stability for the island’s primary sector, because with technology we can guarantee water of the highest quality and flows that satisfy farmers.” In this sense, the island official recalls that “the reclaimed water for agriculture on the island meets all the standards set by the Ministry of Health for drinking water, which will help improve crop productivity, as well as to favor the introduction of new ones”.
Molina Valley
Another important project that Balten is working on is related to the Tegueste raft. The agricultural sector of the northeast of Tenerife It will soon have the first reclaimed water pool that will allow subscribers to reduce the cost of irrigation water by five cents per cubic metre, improving quality levels. To this end, reconversion work is being carried out on the Valle Molina agricultural water reservoir into a reclaimed water reservoir. This action will benefit a total of 2,925 subscribers throughout the region.
Balten maintenance actions in five ponds
The Cabildo, through the public company Balsas de Tenerife (Balten), has started the process for contracting the waterproofing of the Taco Mountain Raft, in the municipality of Buenavista del Norte, for almost 1.7 million euros . It is the largest reservoir of irrigation water on the Island, with a total of 821,739 cubic meters, and which is essential for agriculture in the area of Isla Baja. This represents the fifth draft action related to the maintenance of the rafts of Tenerife, after that of Valle Molina, in Tegueste; El Saltadero, in Granadilla; Llanos de Mesa, in San Juan de la Rambla and Benijos, in La Orotava.
