The installation of a wind turbine in La Santa (Tinajo) has aroused the indignation of part of the population of Lanzarote. This infrastructure is part of the Modernization and Improvement Project of Irrigation in the Northeast Area of Lanzarote, for the municipalities of Tinajo and, to a lesser extent, Teguise.
The project seeks to "modernize" the irrigation network of 300.5 hectares and supply water to 667 irrigators. However, the installation of a wind turbine that can reach up to 70 meters in height, as denounced by the PSOE, has drawn criticism on the island.
This work, promoted by the State Commercial Company for Agrarian Infrastructures, SA., is part of an agreement signed with the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.
According to the data collected in the environmental impact study, which was made publicly available in July 2024, the project includes the installation of a single wind turbine with a power of 2,350 kilowatts on a plot in La Santa, owned by the Water Consortium, next to the current treatment plant.
This wind turbine will be connected to the electrical grid, but it will be for self-consumption, so it will not feed into the grid. Furthermore, the evacuation power line and the connection between the wind turbine will be "buried" to "reduce the risk" of bird collisions.
Its impact on the area's birdlife
The environmental assessment ensures that it will be monitored whether there are nests, burrows, or breeding territories of birds such as the Houbara bustard, the Trumpeter bullfinch, or the Stone-curlew. At the same time, it states that the works will generate disturbances due to "movements of people, vehicle traffic, and noise from machinery" affecting birdlife and other species.
To analyze the damage of this wind turbine on biodiversity after its installation, a study will be carried out during the first few years to see how it affects birds.
A new irrigation network
The installation of this wind turbine is not the only measure that will be carried out in this town. The initiative will also involve creating a network for the distribution of irrigation water in the northeast of the island, with water desalinated by reverse osmosis, filtering wells for brine discharge, and the installation of this wind turbine.
Both the wind turbine and the capture wells, the desalination plant, the brine filtering wells, the product water tank, and the pumping station will be located in La Santa, most of them in the Hydraulic Complex, where the treatment plant is currently located.
A irrigation network will also be created in El Cuchillo and another in Tinache, between Tajaste and Muñique. Furthermore, a pumping and boosting station is planned to raise desalinated water to the future El Cuchillo reservoir and the Tinache Pond.
The project also provided for the installation of an underwater outfall to discharge brine from the La Santa Seawater Desalination Plant into the sea. However, it was finally decided that this effluent would be replaced by filtering wells that would discharge into El Cuchillo in order to "minimize the visual impact and land consumption", as well as the "biodynamic impact on the marine environment".
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