The president of the Canary Islands affirms that it is time to be “brave” with renewable energies and that what generates an impact is pollution
SAN SEBASTIAN DE LA GOMERA, March 30 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Ecoener Group has launched today, in San Sebastián de La Gomera, five new wind farms with a joint generation capacity of 12 MW and which have involved an investment of more than 17 million euros. Three of the five new wind farms are located in the Las Cabezadas area and two in El Camello.
The official presentation took place this Thursday in an act that was attended by the president of Ecoener, Luis de Valdivia; the president of the Canary Islands, Ángel Víctor Torres; the president of the Cabildo de La Gomera; Casimiro Curbelo; the Minister of Ecological Transition, the Fight against Climate Change and Territorial Planning of the Government of the Canary Islands, José Antonio Valbuena; and the mayor of San Sebastián de La Gomera, Adasat Reyes, among other authorities and representatives of business and social organizations on the island.
Torres highlighted the importance for the entire Canary Islands of the conclusion of a project of this magnitude and rejected those who defend that wind farms “attack the landscape.” In fact, he maintained that “what threatens the landscape” is pollution, while what the mills do is “occupy a certain space.”
Thus, he defended that you have to be “brave” in this [en impulsar las energías renovables] and he trusted that “all the councils” bet on it, as well as the group of the 88 municipalities of the Canary Islands. Likewise, the president highlighted that in the last four years 700 megawatts of renewable energy have been authorized, more than the power installed up to 2019 (600 megawatts).
The president of Ecoener, Luis de Valdivia, stated that today is a “great day” and declared that the company is “very proud” of this “construction and logistics milestone”, “the result of the efforts of so many people and of contributing to the La Gomera 100% Sustainable Plan”.
He stressed that the pieces have come directly by boat from Germany in something that he described as a true “feat”, as is the assembly in four months, plus two for the terminations of connection to the networks.
Likewise, it promised to continue contributing to the energy transition of the Canary Islands, where Ecoener has already invested more than 140 million euros in all its assets over the last 20 years.
The president of the Cabildo de La Gomera, for his part, explained that today is “a historic day” because the five parks that are being launched on the island today are “capable of generating more energy” than the island itself needs and which can be exported to Tenerife very soon.
“We are lucky that on the 20th of this month the electrical connection works for Tenerife and La Gomera began. This means that in the year 2025 we will be able to bring clean wind energy to the neighboring island “, he explained.
Thus, he said that he is “extremely glad that private initiative and public action come to establish guidelines for shared work so that what is happening today happens.” “La Gomera is going to be the Canary Island, which despite having joined the fight against climate change later and, therefore, the commitment to renewable energy, is going to be the first 100% sustainable”, he declared. he.
The mayor of San Sebastián de La Gomera, meanwhile, advocated “taking advantage of an undoubted characteristic of the San Sebastián de La Gomera municipality and the island of La Gomera” such as the wind and defended that, although it produces “a certain aesthetic visual impact”, “It’s worth it because everyone is already ‘climate change aware’.
MILESTONE IN THE CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITY
The wind farms on La Gomera have been a ‘milestone’ in the history of Ecoener, since they have been built in a little over four months, not without effort given the orographic and meteorological conditions of the area where they are located. A multidisciplinary team made up of 200 professionals has worked in the construction process.
These assets also synthesize the main axes of Ecoener’s strategy: “firm commitment to renewable energy to reduce emissions; technological innovation with state-of-the-art equipment that improves energy efficiency and environmental protection; and commitment to society and the local economy.
ENVIRONMENTAL REGENERATION WITH NATIVE FLORA
The wind farms of La Gomera also have a specific environmental action consisting of an ambitious program of regeneration and environmental recovery in collaboration with the nursery of the Cabildo de La Gomera and the Association for Functional Diversity of La Gomera.
In collaboration with these entities, the revegetation of more than 1,000 native trees and shrubs is being carried out, covering a total area of 21,000 square meters. The species used in this action are, among others, the tedera, the balo and the verode.
In addition, the wind turbines of the wind farms have been equipped with modern environmental conservation systems to guarantee the protection of birds.
The new parks on La Gomera have the capacity to supply almost 11,000 homes with renewable energy and will prevent the emission of more than 23,000 tons of CO2 into the atmosphere, a significant contribution to the total decarbonization of the Canary Islands, scheduled for 2040. With With the inauguration of this wind complex, Ecoener takes an important step in the development of the company’s strategic plan.
INTERNATIONAL DIMENSION
The capacity of Ecoener’s assets in operation and construction has reached 420 MW. Of these, 45% are located in Spain and 55% in the Americas.
The assets in production are made up of 7 hydroelectric plants, 15 wind farms and 13 photovoltaic plants. The company has around 1.7 GW in the development phase with expansion and growth projects globally.
Ecoener obtained a net profit of 20.2 million euros in 2022, which is 3.6 times more compared to the 5.6 million euros obtained in 2021 and reached revenues of 72.9 million euros, 83 % more than the 39.9 million of 2021, with a production of 382 GWh.
