The Lanzarote Cabildo has announced the constitution of an internal technical-political commission in which the main areas linked to the island's territorial, environmental, and energy planning participate, with the objective of defining an ordered strategy for the implementation of renewable energies in Lanzarote and La Graciosa.
This working group, in which the areas of Territorial Policy, Energy and Industry, Biosphere Reserve, Water, Environment, Agriculture, Landscape, Geopark and Eólicas Lanzarote are represented, is part of the agreements reached after the recent meeting held with the Government of the Canary Islands on the Renewable Acceleration Zones (ZAR), and responds to the need to "review current approaches and correct the errors detected in the printing of the maps carried out by the public company contracted by the Government of the Canary Islands in the initial documentation".
The president of the Cabildo de Lanzarote, Oswaldo Betancort, emphasizes that “we are launching an internal work structure that will allow us to address with technical rigor and political coordination a key process for the future of the island”. In this regard, he adds that “the energy change that Lanzarote and La Graciosa need begins here, from island planning and with its own decision-making capacity”.
Likewise, the Minister of Environment, Samuel Martín, explains that “this work allows integrating all the variables that condition the island territory, from landscape protection and agricultural activity to water management or energy planning”. He also points out that “it is about ordering the deployment of renewables with clear criteria, avoiding unnecessary impacts and guaranteeing compatibility with the environmental values of Lanzarote”.
The commission sets as an immediate roadmap the holding, over the next month, of sectoral meetings with town councils, professional associations, the Chamber of Commerce and representatives of the economic and social fabric, with the aim of incorporating technical and territorial criteria into the definition of the island's energy model.
Among the principles guiding this process, the Cabildo establishes as a priority the development of renewable energies from the public sector, the reduction of land consumption and the preferential occupation of roofs and already transformed spaces, in line with the technical and environmental criteria shared with the regional Executive.
One of the key axes of the analysis will be the island's current energy consumption, where water desalination concentrates a significant part of the demand. In this regard, the Cabildo is already working on reducing losses in the water network and improving the efficiency of the system, with the aim of reducing the energy impact associated with the integral water cycle.
Proposals
Additionally, the board will address proposals linked to the use of public land for the development of energy projects, as well as the repowering of existing facilities, such as the already implemented wind farms, with the aim of optimizing already consolidated infrastructures and avoiding new land occupations.
The Cabildo insists that this process responds to the need to define with technical criteria where and how renewable energies should be located on the island, always prioritizing anthropized spaces and guaranteeing a balanced model.
The constitution of this commission marks the beginning of a planning process that the Cabildo proposes as an island agreement, aimed at making the energy transition compatible with the protection of the territory, the landscape and the strategic sectors of Lanzarote and La Graciosa.
