El Hierro covers more than half of its electricity demand thanks to renewable energy.

The Gorona del Viento hydro-wind power plant supplied 54% of El Hierro’s electricity demand during 2019

The island of El Hierro, which in 2018 managed to consume renewable electricity for almost 2,000 uninterrupted hours, has once again marked a milestone in the history of renewable energy. The Gorona del Viento hydro-wind power plant supplied 54% of the electricity to El Hierro consumers last year; which in fact means that more than half of the electrical energy consumed by its 11,000 inhabitants came from renewable generation sources.

Thus, this pioneering plant in the world allowed the saving of almost 7,000 tons of fuel consumption and stopped expelling 23,000 tons of CO2 into the atmosphere. This fact is the result of greater experience in the operation of this innovative model of plant, as well as good weather conditions, as Santiago González, CEO of the plant, explained to the EFE Agency.

How does Gorona del Viento work?

Gorona del Viento combines, through an innovative system, a wind plant with a hydroelectric installation. Allowing water to be pumped from a lower reservoir to an upper one using the surplus energy produced by the wind turbines.

Thus, it uses this resource when there is a lack of wind. According to the company in charge of the plant, this operation has allowed 46.5% of all the energy consumed by the island last year to come from renewable sources.

The facility became fully operational in July 2015. During its first year of operation, which was actually six months, it covered 19.2% of total demand. Far exceeding the contribution that the renewable energy mix represented for the island of El Hierro prior to its entry into operation: 2.3%.