The Ministry of Ecological Transition and Energy of the Government of the Canary Islands has held an intense agenda of meetings this week in Copenhagen with companies, investment funds, research centers and European organizations with the aim of presenting the potential of the archipelago in the development of offshore wind power, microgrids and other renewable technologies, as well as key environmental aspects for the Canary Islands.
The Deputy Minister of Ecological Transition, Fight against Climate Change and Energy, Julieta Schallenberg, especially highlighted the meeting held with the European Environment Agency (EEA), an institution dependent on the European Commission.
Specifically, the Deputy Minister and the General Director of Energy, Alberto Hernández, met with Suzanne Dael, head of group in the area of mitigation policies, energy and transport; and Stéphane Isoard, head of the oceans and sustainable blue economy group of this institution. During the meeting, the challenges of making the conservation of biodiversity compatible with the sustainable development of the islands were addressed. "We are looking for tools and alliances that allow us to plan strategic renewable energy projects, such as offshore wind power, with the utmost respect for the environment and biodiversity," said the Deputy Minister.
In Schallenberg's words, "the EEA will provide us with key information and good practices so that the Canary Islands can move towards a decarbonized energy model without compromising its environmental wealth, something especially relevant in island territories with high biodiversity like ours."
The Canarian delegation also held a meeting with CIP (Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners), considered one of the largest consultancies in the world in the field of energy and with ample capacity to finance projects. During the meeting, the consultancy presented its projects and presented the opportunities offered by the archipelago in terms of offshore wind power and microgrids.
"One of the main messages conveyed by CIP is that the Canary Islands is the first territory in Spain where offshore wind power should be developed, a statement that is fully aligned with the position we have always defended from the regional Executive," explained Schallenberg, who remarked that "we are working to attract capital and collaboration from large international companies that not only advise, but also finance strategic projects that will allow us to advance in the energy transition of our islands."
In addition to these meetings, the agenda in Copenhagen also included a meeting with the company Stiesdal Offshore, specialized in floating wind platforms, and with the company Wave dragon, which develops devices for the generation of energy from waves, with the possibility of combining this technology with offshore wind power.
Likewise, the Deputy Minister also took the opportunity to meet with the Sustainable Energy Planning Research Group of the University of Aalborg, the Technical University of Denmark, an international benchmark in this field.
Visit to the Middelgrunden offshore wind farm
According to the Deputy Minister, with this complete agenda, which has also included a visit to the Middelgrunden offshore wind farm, "we have reinforced the positioning of the Canary Islands as an attractive region for investors and European promoters in the development of renewable energies, especially offshore wind power, microgrids and the use of the wave energy potential of our islands," concluded Schallenberg.
Within the framework of the European project Blue Supply Chain, led by Fedeport, the Canarian delegation in Copenhagen also visited the Middelgrunden offshore wind farm, being able to learn first-hand about the technical characteristics of this type of facilities with the aim of evaluating the technical conditions, the impacts on the environment, the social acceptance and its participatory model to adapt successful experiences to the reality of the archipelago.
In addition to the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Energy of the Government of the Canary Islands, Fedeport, the Canary Islands Maritime Cluster (CMC) and Proexca, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Madeira (ACIF-CCIM,) and a total of ten companies linked to the sector have participated in this visit: Mido Innovation, Turnaval, Ecosgroup, Ingeniería de Protecciones y Control Eléctrico, S.L., Iprocel Energy, S.L., Elittoral, Contratas Metalúrgicas, B y S Carga General, S.L., Miller y Cía, S.A. and Floating Power Plant.