Implementation of offshore wind farms in Gran Canaria, Spain

Abstract

Reduce oil dependence of the Canary Islands is a must. Their power generation depends almost entirely (94%) on oil and it is today the only fuel for this purpose. They are only seven islands (Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Tenerife, La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro) but there are six independent electrical systems due to the great depths that exist among them. Only Lanzarote and Fuerteventura are electrically connected by submarine wire.It has been studied the possibility of constructing pumping hydro plants with the aim of storing energy, reducing consumption and increasing penetration of renewables in the islands. Concretely, the studies were performed in five islands whose height would allow the construction of this type of plants. Lanzarote and Fuerteventura have been left out by environmental reasons and to be very flat. Today the Store project is been executed by ENDESA electricity company, where three electrical storage systems are analyzed although they are very small and very expensive [5].So our aim is to obtain a high production of electricity from renewable sources in a small space with a lot of protected areas. For this reason we have thought about the possibility of building an offshore wind farm.When you are looking for a suitable place for the construction of an offshore wind farm in an archipelago, you think of a place near the center of the demand and near the island with more people and more activity, which in this case is Gran Canaria. But that place has to satisfy also several factors of kind technical, environmental and territorial. At the end of the study only one place was found. We have analyzed the power that can be produced in this moment there and its relationship with the future demand for electricity in the islands.