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1492
Christopher Columbus sails west
Before Columbus sailed west past El Hierro, the Canary Islands were believed to be the further most west point on the map. Columbus’ journey discovered more west land, diminishing this idea. -
The Gorona del Viento El Hierro consortium was formed
It included islanders, faculty and students from the Canary Islands Institute of Technology, consultants from the Spanish utility company Endesa, and representatives of the Spanish government who were focused on shifting the island’s energy source from diesel-powered generators to a wind and water turbine farm that would use no fossil fuels and emit no CO2. -
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El Hierro becoming the first energy-independent island
Since 1996, El Hierro has worked steadily at becoming the first energy-independent island in the world that is powered only by renewable energy sources. They have done it by coming together, with help from neighbors in the Canary Islands, Spain, and the European Union, and directing their scientific know-how, moral will, and spiritual commitment toward meeting their energy needs with nature, not from nature. -
The Spanish Minister of Industry gave the multinational oil company Repsol permission to drill three exploration deep-water perforations in the ocean seabed near the Canary Islands.
The Canary Islands is one of the largest marine areas in Europe and is among the most spectacular areas on Earth for marine biodiversity. An oil spill would cause an environment disaster of unimaginable proportions. A disaster would affect not only the Islands’ marine biodiversity, but also its source for drinking water and its tourism and commercial fishing industries. Even without a spill, the drilling noise makes life impossible for the water’s many species of whales and dolphins -
El Hierro Power Plant Today
Today, the Gorona del Viento Power Plant is a closed-loop wind and water system with five windmills and two water reservoirs. Harnessing the Atlantic Ocean’s near-constant winds, the windmills combined capacity of 11.5 megawatts is designed to provide islanders with daily electricity while also powering three water desalination plants. When surplus power is generated, it pumps water 700 meters above sea level into an upper reservoir that is an extinct, sealed-off volcano crater.
