The enormous portfolio of responsibilities of the Lanzarote Councilman, Miguel Ángel Jiménez, includes Presidency, Human Resources, Housing, New Technologies, Internal Regulations, as well as Industry and Energy. From the window of his office you can see the solar panels of the Council and the windmills of San Bartolomé.
In an interview with Ekonomus, the councilman believes that Lanzarote does not need more wind farms, but it does need many more charging points for electric cars. In addition, he announces the upcoming publication of the Council's subsidies for solar panels and shares his enthusiasm for geothermal energy.
The technicians of the Lanzarote Council are currently analyzing the results of the ordinance that he commissioned from Tragsatec (a public company dependent on the Ministry of Agriculture) to establish the places on the island where renewable energy installations can and cannot be placed.
The councilman anticipates that the ordinance establishes that many installations, such as "a transformer station, must be built underground." To preserve the soil and the landscape, "renewable installations cannot be placed in sensitive areas of Lanzarote such as La Geria or the coast."
"The people of Lanzarote, regardless of political party, want to preserve the legacy of our ancestors."
Miguel Ángel Jiménez explains that the new installations will be located where they have less visual impact. "The Canary Islands love their territory, but Lanzarote, unlike other islands, has had the influence of César Manrique from a very young age and, regardless of political party, the people of Lanzarote want to preserve the legacy of our ancestors."
"I don't think the island needs more wind farms," says Jiménez, who explains that the San Bartolomé park is "running at full capacity" and that the Council is working to "recover the Los Valles windmills," whose maintenance license had expired.
"What we have done is issue a tender for an audit to tell us how the Council's renewable installations are so we can see how we can improve them," says the councilman.
Asked about the volume of energy that comes from renewables in Lanzarote, Jiménez explains that the island has peaks of energy production from renewables that reach 30%, although the average rate is still around 15%.
With respect to the Council's charging points for electric cars, the councilman points out that there is currently one in San Bartolomé, another in Arrieta and another in El Monumento al Campesino.
"We have contacted the different town councils to cede land to us so that we can increase the number of charging points and we are about to finish this process. Teguise has asked us for two. The Council will put them where the town councils tell us," he specifies.
As for which renewable energies the Council wants to promote, Jiménez explains that they want to promote photovoltaics and anticipates that they are about to publish the subsidies so that the citizens of the island can receive, once the project has been presented, half of the cost of installing solar panels on their roofs or terraces.
"They will be out soon, it will not take more than a month," explains Jiménez. The total amount will amount to 500,000 euros, twice the usual amount, since last year they could not be published due to "a technical problem of deadlines."
The Council is also working to develop energy communities, in which citizens can join renewable energy projects led by the town councils with the support of the Council.
In addition, there is a type of renewable energy that is being studied in the Council and that is particularly interesting for Lanzarote, according to the Minister of Energy. "Lanzarote has incredible possibilities to obtain energy through geothermal energy," which takes advantage of the heat from the interior of the earth.