Naturgy leads the drive for the energy transition in the Canary Islands with the inauguration of five new photovoltaic plants in the municipality of Agüimes (Gran Canaria). The entry into operation of these facilities raises the Group’s renewable energy power in the region to 136 MW, which represents a production capacity of close to 380 GWh per year, equivalent to the consumption of 116,000 homes.
As a whole, Naturgy already operates a total of 21 facilities in the archipelago, 12 wind and 9 photovoltaic, which contribute to reducing CO2 emissions by more than 190,000 tons per year. The combined power of the renewable facilities operated by Naturgy alone represents around 15% of the total renewable MW currently in operation in the Canary Islands.
The five new photovoltaic plants (Gran Canaria I and II and Telde I, IV and V), inaugurated this Monday, have a total power of 19.5 MW, and will produce 38 GWh annually, equivalent to the consumption of 11,650 homes, avoiding annual production of 25,000 tons of CO2. These facilities have involved an investment of 20 million euros and have allowed the generation of 140 direct and indirect jobs during the construction, operation and maintenance phases. In total, the five facilities have more than 35,900 photovoltaic modules and their useful life will be 25 years.
In addition to all these projects, Naturgy has a portfolio under development throughout the Islands with an accumulated power close to 70 MW. These projects include the future installation of a hybridization system using batteries in the town of Agüimes itself, with an estimated capacity of 12.9 MWh.
The opening ceremony was attended by the Minister of Ecological Transition and Energy of the Government of the Canary Islands, Mariano Hernández Zapata; the president of the Cabildo of Gran Canaria, Antonio Morales Méndez; and the mayor of Agüimes, Óscar Hernández Suárez. On behalf of Naturgy, the event was attended by Jesús San Emeterio, director of Renewable Generation Spain; Juan Ferrero, responsible for Development of Renewable Spain; Elisa Ferrando, head of Engineering and Construction at Naturgy Renovables and Sergio Auffray, delegate of Renewable Development in the Canary Islands.
In his speech, the Minister of Ecological Transition and Energy of the Government of the Canary Islands, Mariano Hernández Zapata, stated that the introduction of new renewable installations in the Canary Islands is always “excellent news on our path towards decarbonization”, since the islands They currently only have a 20% penetration of renewables.
Likewise, Zapata pointed out the need to increase this figure as soon as possible, since “we have to comply with the demands set by the National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan (PNIEC), whose objective for the Canary Islands is to reach 58 % penetration of renewables”. A challenge that he described as “complicated”, but for which “the Executive has not stopped working, taking firm steps.”
In this sense, he highlighted the work to promote the implementation of renewables in the territory, with actions such as the recent modification of the Climate Change Law, which seeks to “simplify bureaucracy, provide legal certainty and speed up its implementation, since the future of “The Canary Islands go through renewable energies.” An action in energy matters that is also “urgent, also taking into account the energy emergency situation in which we find ourselves.” In relation to this, Zapata also wanted to remember the recent announcement by MITECO, which launched the competition for the renewal of the islands’ energy groups, through which “we will be able to move forward to renew the islands’ generation groups.” , where a greater incursion of renewable energies and special attention to the cleanest offers will be sought.”
For his part, the president of the Cabildo of Gran Canaria, Antonio Morales, highlighted that the new Naturgy plants “contribute to consolidating the island’s position as the leading island territory in the introduction of renewable energies in the archipelago” and added that These additions to the system “help us advance on our path towards an increasingly sustainable model that is supported by our comprehensive Ecoísla project.”
Furthermore, Morales stressed that “companies know that they have a favorable social and political ecosystem in Gran Canaria for this type of investment thanks to the leadership of the Cabildo and the consensus achieved to promote the energy transition” and recalled that the island Corporation “has designed a strategy that will allow reaching 60% penetration of clean energies in 2030, a context in which the entry on the scene of the Salto de Chira plant will stand out as a great storage resource and introduction of renewables and water production.
