The Government of the Canary Islands, through the Technological Institute of the Canary Islands (ITC), and Endesa signed an agreement this Thursday at the Cabildo of Lanzarote to study the implementation of an intelligent electric micro-network (smartgrid) in La Graciosa. The objective of this intervention, based on renewable sources, is to achieve greater efficiency and optimize energy consumption.
During the institutional visit of the Minister of Industry of the Government of the Canary Islands, Margarita Ramos, and the Deputy Minister of that area, Francisca Luengo; the island councilor of Industry, Rocío Arredondo, proposed to her a framework agreement to ensure that the eighth island is 100 percent sustainable.
After an official reception at the Presidency and a meeting with the councilors and technicians of Industry and Employment, as well as with Oswaldo Betancort, mayor of Teguise, Margarita Ramos proceeded to sign the agreement. Along with her, the general director of Endesa in the Canary Islands, Pablo Casado; the CEO of ITC, Nicolás Díaz; and the regional director of Distribution of Endesa, Javier Sánchez, participated in the presentation of this agreement.
Thus, the Minister of Industry of the Cabildo, Rocío Arredondo, pointed out that "the Cabildo welcomes an initiative such as smartgrids with open arms. We understand that it is an important first step to approach the objective of La Graciosa being 100 percent sustainable and energetically self-sufficient. For this reason, we have proposed to the Minister of Industry of the Government of the Canary Islands a framework agreement that also includes aspects such as the treatment and use of waste, the desalination of seawater with wind energy, or the implementation of the electric car, among others."
According to Arredondo, "Margarita Ramos has welcomed the proposal very well, considering that some of these aspects could be included as annex clauses to the smartgrids agreement, while for the others it would be necessary to commission specific studies to the ITC. We have agreed to meet again in June to resume this framework agreement and shape it in the sense of distributing responsibilities, tasks, as well as management and co-financing commitments."
Viability
For her part, Ramos valued "very positively" the Cabildo's sustainable project for La Graciosa. "For the time being, the ITC and Endesa study will tell us the viability based on the island's potential to install an electrical network powered exclusively by renewable energy sources. Meanwhile, the Government of the Canary Islands, the Cabildo and the City Council of Teguise can move forward in the framework agreement, determining according to technical convenience which actions we carry out each one."
In this sense, Ramos pointed out "the suitability of 'inviting' the IDAE (Institute for Diversification and Energy Saving) to participate in this project", and urged the authorities of Lanzarote to "invite the director of this entity to come to know La Graciosa and see in situ its enormous possibilities as a sustainable territory as well as how wonderful it is", she pointed out.
For her part, the Deputy Minister of Industry of the Autonomous Executive suggested that "it would be convenient for the purpose of obtaining subsidies, that La Graciosa has a pragmatic and effective management body. I understand that the ideal formula for this is the consortium." Luengo advised that "a dossier with photos and video should be prepared and taken to Brussels. That the Ministry that the Government of the Canary Islands has in the community capital works to sell this project, because in the new stage that is going to open in the European Union of commitment to growth, renewables are going to be a priority objective."
Intelligent Micro-network
The proposal for the development of this micro-network in La Graciosa will be incorporated into the activities of promotion of renewable energies of the European initiative of the Islands Pact. With it, it is intended to contribute from the community island territories to the objective of the Commission of 20-20-20 (20 percent of renewable energies, 20 percent of improvement in energy efficiency, and 20 percent of reduction of greenhouse gases).
Likewise, with the Micro-network project for La Graciosa, the ITC and Endesa will be able to continue advancing in the development of intelligent networks, with high penetration in the field of renewable energies. In this field, the Canary Islands has enormous potential for having renewable sources (sun, wind and sea) and possibilities of being energetically self-sufficient.
The ITC is currently developing several lines of research related to intelligent electrical networks, micro-networks and the new paradigm of distributed generation, focused on domestic renewable energies). The small-scale development of renewable energy systems near consumption points avoids or minimizes problems such as system saturation or transportation losses. Therefore, island areas are ideal for micro-networks based on sustainable energies.
For its part, Endesa has been working for years on the development and implementation of intelligent electrical distribution networks, such as the project in El Hierro, as well as other essential network models for the development of Smartcity Málaga Smartcity Barcelona smart cities.