Greenalia informs the Canary Islands government of the progress of its offshore floating wind energy project in the islands

• The company CEO, Manuel García, and the Corporate Development Director, Beatriz Mato, held a meeting today with the Ecological Transaction, Fight Against Climate Change and Territorial Planning Director of the Canary Islands Government, José Antonio Valbuena Alonso, to whom they informed of the potential of these developments in terms of investment, job creation and industry promotion
• The renewable energy producer, located in A Coruña, is firmly committed to developing offshore wind energy, with growing technology where Spain has significant potential both in resource and know how
• During the meeting, Greenalia’s Directors presented the progress milestones of 50MW Gofio Wind Farm, which has now concluded the preliminary reports phase, and has been submitted to the MITECO (Ministry of Ecological Transaction and Demographic Challenge) as a candidate for Next Generation Funds
• The public leaders of the department of Ecological Transition of the Canary Islands Government informed that the Regional Government has requested that the State have a differential treatment with the Canary Islands to promote this type of projects

Greenalia, a renewable energy production company that is developing wind farms in the Canary Islands, has reported today to the Canary Islands Government the characteristics of the facilities it foresees for the islands and how they would significantly drive local jobs and industry. Its operation will additionally make it possible to bring down the cost of energy derived from insularity, thereby contributing to the decarbonization processes indicated by the Spanish Government and the EU.

It was so reported this morning by the Greenalia CEO, Manuel García, to the Director of Ecological Transition, the Fight against Climate Change and Territorial Planning of the Canary Islands Government, José Antonio Valbuena Alonso, in a meeting held in Tenerife, where the importance of the POEMS (Maritime Spacial Planning) was addressed, which the Central administration is finalizing, position the Canary Islands as one of the spaces of reference with the most resources in our country.

The president of Greenalia has reported the relevance of the development of the offshore technology and the importance of our country holding a place of reference in this sector on an international level, which is said to be key within the recovery plans and the Next Generation Funds. Within this framework he emphasized the importance of expediting and advancing the procedure of the parks being processed, as is the case of the Gofio Wind Farm, developed by Greenalia, which has concluded the preliminary reports phase, and “we consider that it is an optimal candidate for those funds”, he emphasized. 50 MW Gofio, is located on the Island of the Gran Canaria in the area of Tirajana, which is considered among those with the best offshore wind resource in Europe, for which “we consider that it is the ideal platform for developing this technology in Spain”.

With the progress and monitoring of this project, including four others that have already been requested, Greenalia confirms its commitment to floating wind energy, which, in addition to being the basis for green growth in Europe, would make it possible to achieve the development objective of 310 marine on the Canary islands coasts, contemplated in the Canary Islands Energy Strategy 2015-2025 – EECan25. Thus, the positive effect for the archipelago is twofold, because on the one hand these installations will allow the process of energy decarbonization in the Canary Islands to accelerate, replacing a significant proportion of the traditional highly polluting sources of power in the Canary Islands’ energy mix, resulting in an environmental benefit, and they will also contribute to the creation of qualified employment in the area, an especially important factor at this time after the crisis generated by COVID-19.

Promotion of the Canary Islands Government

For his part, the of Ecological Transition, the Fight against Climate Change and Territorial Planning Director of the regional government, José Antonio Valbuena, thanked the company for its interest in working in the islands on projects related to offshore wind energy, and showed his willingness to promote initiatives of this type in order to make a Canary Islands a national reference of these offshore renewable energies.

To this effect, Valbuena and Rosana Melián, the General Director of Regional Energy, reported to the directors of Greenalia that the Autonomous government has requested that the State have a differential treatment with the Canary Islands to promote this type of projects, through Next Generation funds, or through auction mechanisms, taking into account that both administrations have collaborated and have achieved significant advances in the definition of the Maritime Spacial Planning (POEM).

Five 50 MW projects

Each facility of the five projected -Gofio, whose processing is well in progress, and Dunas, Mojo, Cardón and Guanche, requested-, by Greenalia for the Canary Islands, shall consist of 4 offshore wind turbines with a unit power of 12.5 MW on floating foundations anchored to the seabed at a depth of 61 to 92 meters. All of them will be connected to the Transport Network through the use of underwater and underground cables which will evacuate the energy generated by each of the wind farms completely independently.

These wind farms will be able to supply a population of close to 350,000 households through a production system that will avoid the emission of around 700,000 tons of CO2 per year. During the process of development, construction, and operation, it is hoped that a great number of jobs will be created (directly and indirectly), both through the construction and through the possibility of having providers from the community.

Lastly, it is hoped that these 250 MW in development may mean a key and essential turning point for the advance of the offshore wind farm sector worldwide and a historic opportunity for Spain to lead the energy sector.