The area designated by the central government as having high potential for offshore wind power in Lanzarote occupies 97.39 km2 and extends from the waters off Jameos del Agua to Arrecife, as stated in the Maritime Space Management Plan (POEM) of the Canary Islands approved this Tuesday by the Council of Ministers.
Some sections are at a minimum distance from the coast of about 1.7 kilometers.
In addition to the Lanzarote area, the Canary Islands POEM also defines five other areas with high potential for offshore wind energy. Fuerteventura and Tenerife have two each, while Gran Canaria has one. The total area for the entire archipelago is 561 square kilometers.
The island with the largest marine area suitable for hosting "offshore" wind farms is Fuerteventura, with two areas representing 208.49 km2. These are FV1, which covers 192.24 km2 east of the coast of Tuineje and Antigua, and FV2, which extends for 16.15 km east of the coast of Puerto del Rosario.
The next island in extension for this type of park is Gran Canaria, with a single area of 163.89 km2 located east of the coast of Telde, Agüimes and Santa Lucía de Tirajana.
In Tenerife, two maritime areas with 92.10 km2 are pre-assigned for offshore wind energy: TEN1, with 21.32 km2 southeast of the coast of Granadilla de Abona, and TEN2, with 70.78 km2, east of a coastal strip that includes the municipalities of Arico, Fasnia and Güímar.
The limits of the wind areas on this island are at a minimum distance from the coast of about 1.7 kilometers in Lanzarote, 1.8 kilometers in Tenerife, 5.5 kilometers in Fuerteventura and 5.8 kilometers in Gran Canaria, according to the measurements obtained in the same application of the Ministry.
"The plans are guiding lines regarding where there may be offshore wind power. Nothing more" (Ana Mª Oñoro, General Director of Coasts)
Allegation of the Cabildo
In this regard, the Energy Councilor of the Cabildo de Lanzarote, Ariagona González, expressed last week to Ekonomus that "the only place on the island where offshore wind power would fit would be on the coast anthropized (more industrialized area) of Puerto de los Mármoles".
The Cabildo considers that in the rest of the Lanzarote coast these facilities should not be placed, since they are coasts dedicated to other uses, whether tourist, navigation, fishing, or with protected natural spaces, which are part of the marine environment.
The POEM approved by the Council of Ministers does not contemplate the allegations of the Cabildo de Lanzarote for the moment. However, the Director General of Coast and Sea, Ana María Oñoro Valenciano, clarified in an interview offered to Eldiario.es that the plans are guiding lines regarding where there may be offshore wind power and that then the environmental assessment processes will come.
