If you prefer to always view the website in English, please click here.
Participants in the COP25 session on the decarbonisation of the islands
Endesa presents a proposal at COP25 to bring forward the decarbonisation of the islands by ten years with respect to the EU objectives.
We must install 450 Mw renewable annually to reach 10,000 Mw and one million electric vehicles by 2040
Investments in renewable energy in the Canary Islands would amount to €7bn in the next twenty years, with a further €1,5bn allocated to battery development.
Zero emissions, 100% renewable generation and more efficient consumption - 33% lower than in 2017. This is the future planned for the Canary Islands in 20 years in the proposal "Canary 2040: objective 100% renewable" presented at the COP25 by Endesa Regulation Director Juan José Alba. To achieve this, it will be necessary to install 450Mw of renewable energy per year, make progress installing batteries, invest in electric vehicles and new technological solutions that use hydrogen, as well as being more efficient in consumption.
Alba, who participated in the round-table discussion on Decarbonisation in the islands at the COP summit with representatives of the European Commission, the Governments of the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands, the Consell de Menorca and the Ministry of Ecological Transition, admitted that the challenges to achieve the goal of total decarbonisation in the Canary Islands by 2040 are evident. Currently, the share of renewable energy on the islands is only 6% in an energy-isolated system with an energy dependence of 98% covered, almost entirely, by fossil energies.
In order to bring forward the decarbonisation of the archipelago by a decade with respect to the general objectives of the EU and to reduce emissions from the energy sector to zero by 2040, Alba stressed that it will be necessary to make a firm commitment to renewables by installing 10,000 MW per year, of which around 1,000 MW will be self-consumption, figures that contrast with the 600 MW currently installed.
The new renewable capacity must be accompanied by the installation of batteries to meet demand at times without sun or wind. However, the Endesa Regulation Director said that batteries do not solve all the problems because they become saturated when they have to store energy for long periods. For example, in winter, with fewer hours of sun and wind, they cannot cover the shortfall in energy from wind and solar parks.
One solution would be to use the surplus renewable production not stored in the batteries to produce hydrogen for thermal generation plants to generate electricity without emissions. Alba pointed out that molecular hydrogen technology is still in the maturation phase so, during the transition period, combined cycle plants must replace fuel and diesel for gas, with lower emissions.
Alba admitted that the plan will need large investments of up to €7bn to deploy renewables, €1.5bn for the development of battery storage systems and 450 million for adapting the plants to gas during the transitional period.
One million electric cars
As regards road transport, the answer lies in electric vehicles. The objective to reach the decarbonisation goal is to reach one million electric vehicles in the Canary Islands by 2040, at a rate of 40,000 vehicles per year. To make it happen, urgent action must be taken to install charging points in homes and public highways and provide incentives to buy electric vehicles.
In the case of industry in the Canary Islands, to be free of emissions in 2040 investments will have to be made in electrification and hydrogen use. Alba said that the new technological solutions that will emerge in the near future will also be key to adapting air and maritime transport, from electric aircraft to ships with hydrogen fuel cells. In the case of homes, electrification, self-consumption and solar thermal energy will be the way of the future.
The Director of the Ministry of Ecological Transition, Fight against Climate Change and Territorial Planning, José Antonio Valbuena said that this is an ambitious project and pledged the support of the Canary Island government to all initiatives that accelerate decarbonisation on the islands.