Involcan appeals to discover if the islands have “the goose that lays the golden eggs” and believes that there could be plants operating in 2030
SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, September 25 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The councils of Tenerife, Gran Canaria and La Palma, through public-private consortia, have initiated various projects to promote the development of geothermal energy on the islands by requesting research permits from the Government of the Canary Islands and financial aid to the Institute for Energy Diversification and Saving (IDAE), an entity dependent on the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge.
The details of these initiatives have been presented at a press conference this Monday by the Minister of Innovation, Research and Development of the Cabildo de Tenerife, Juan José Martínez; the Minister of Economic Development, Energy and R&D&I of the Cabildo of Gran Canaria, Raúl García; the Minister of Finance, Human Resources, Commerce, Training, Employment, Industry and Energy of the Cabildo of La Palma, Fernando González and the scientific director of the Technological and Renewable Energy Institute (ITER), Nemesio Pérez.
This has defended that private capital enters into projects “without exclusions” and has defended the benefits of geothermal energy as a “renewable, sustainable, stable and available 24-hour” resource, with a “predictable performance” and that “operates continuously.” , with the possibility of generating tourist attractions from the waste from the power plants, as is the case with a lake in Iceland.
However, he has warned that “the bear must be hunted before selling it” and leaves the door open to the possibility that when the surveys are carried out there will be no energy resource or its exploitation “will not be viable”, but in any case, he rules out that ” bury” millions of euros since society runs the risk of finding out if it has “the goose that lays the golden eggs” under its feet.
“The Canary Islands are the only area of Spain with a high enthalpy resource, either we will spend 40 more years waiting or we will start working,” he added, stressing that if energy resources are located before 2026, with an approximate period of about five more years, A geothermal power plant could come into use in 2030 or 2031.
Pérez commented that between the councils and the Canary Islands Government, some seven million have been invested in studies since 2008 and now it is about “sharing the risk” of the cost with private companies, which is very high in the survey phase and very low if the resource is found.
To do this, he has pointed out that soundings of at least two kilometers in depth must be carried out – those carried out so far did not exceed one kilometer -.
AZORES, A MODEL TO FOLLOW
The director of Involcan has given as an example the Azores geothermal power plant, on the island of San Miguel, with about 120,000 inhabitants, and responsible for more than 40% of the electricity generation on the island.
Juan José Martínez has detailed that the island has presented projects for almost 100 million euros in the west, south and southeast of the island with the help of ITER, Involcan and DISA and he understands that these projects will help the energy sovereignty of the island in a moment of “emergency” and with the threat of blackouts.
He pointed out that there are “solid indications” that geothermal energy can be exploited on the three islands, with an initial cost of about 30 million euros and another approximately 180 million if it can be exploited.
Fernando González has assessed that geothermal energy is “constant and manageable” as it is a renewable energy that is not affected by meteorological phenomena, and in the case of La Palma, it could reach an installed power of 20 megawatts.
He has said that the interest in goethermia “is not something new in relation to the eruption” in Cumbre Vieja since there are studies carried out since the eighties that did not bear fruit because “the surveys are very expensive.”
MALLET AND FUENCALIENTE
Now, the Cabildo is involved in projects valued at around 60 million in the areas of Mazo and Fuencaliente through Sodepal, the Insular Water Council, the energy cooperative and the Canopalma water community.
González points out that participation “is still open” for private companies to enter that “have the ‘know how'” that the Cabildo cannot provide by itself.
García, for his part, has highlighted the “intense collaboration” with Involcan to accompany the Cabildo of Gran Canaria in the development of geothermal energy, which coincides with the “eco-island” model defended by the government team in search of sovereignty energy through renewables.
For this reason, they have presented projects worth almost 31 million in an area between Telde and Valsequillo, in the east of the island, with a public-private initiative made up of the Public Business Entity, the Insular Energy Council, Canaluz Infinita, Ayagaures Medio Ambiente and Canary Islands Base, of the Satocan Group.
“We believe that we are going to overcome the technical and regulatory challenges and the projects will be completed before the end of 2026,” he indicated, also highlighting that geothermal energy is a “promising alternative” to produce “clean and abundant” energy and help the fight against climate change.
The aid from the Institute for Energy Diversification and Saving (IDAE) amounts to a total of 120 million from Next Generation funds and half, 60 million, is allocated to the Canary Islands, at a rate of 15 million per island.
