Tenders to build roads in the Canary Islands will require energy efficiency

The Ministry of Public Works of the Canary Islands Government will incorporate energy efficiency criteria in the specifications of road infrastructure projects that it tenders so that the archipelago can have "sustainable green roads".

This was announced this Friday by the Minister of the area, Pablo Rodríguez, when presenting the "Energy efficiency and renewable energy strategy in road infrastructures", which aims to incorporate energy saving and efficiency measures, in addition to renewable energy sources to these infrastructures to advance towards sustainability in this matter in the islands.

The department will introduce this new philosophy in the specifications of the projects it tenders, both new and those already being drafted, according to Rodríguez and the general director of Road Infrastructure, Rosana Melián, who have announced the roadmap developed by the department to promote the decarbonization of road infrastructures in the Archipelago.

Melián, explained that the "'Energy efficiency and renewable energy strategy in road infrastructures" of the Canary Islands has been commissioned to the Technological Institute of the Canary Islands, which will analyze different aspects of roads of regional interest, such as current energy consumption and the adoption of energy efficiency measures to reduce them, through the change of luminaires for more efficient ones or the installation of lighting control systems, among others.

A diagnosis of the photovoltaic potential existing in road infrastructures will also be carried out, with and without energy storage, and the use of other technologies that may be more suitable depending on the location and conditions of the installation will be addressed, such as wind turbines or the use of piezoelectric elements to generate electricity with the passage of vehicles.

"Once the strategy has been developed, we will organize a presentation of the results to set a roadmap and share it with the rest of the island and municipal administrations so that this study can be extended, later, to the roads managed by councils and town halls," Melián clarified.

The manager has indicated that other lines that may be of interest to other areas, such as Housing, will also be considered, promoting the development of energy communities in the public park of the Islands.

"We not only want to achieve self-sufficiency on our roads. We are convinced that the strategy will yield results that conclude that our roads can be authentic spaces for generating clean energy," he asserted.