Off the coast of Gran Canaria the project to abandon the use of fossil fuels
A water battery to store renewable energy. It happens in the Canaries. Gorgeous territory, heavenly views and a perfect climate to think about nothing, especially about work. But there is a problem: the Canary Islands, given their location, have to rely almost entirely on the import of fossil fuels for their energy requests, stored in large containers which, from time to time, cross the coast to allow its inhabitants, mostly tourists, to have electricity and other services that use energy. Then, suddenly, the idea: “what if we transformed our most natural reserve of energy, the sea, into a huge eco-sustainable battery?”. And this is how the “El Salto de Chira” project was born in Gran Canaria.
Exploit the existing dams for the water battery
It is a reversible hydroelectric or pumped storage plant, which is based on the exploitation of the difference in height between the upper (Chira) and lower (Soria) basins of Gran Canaria, with the aim of storing renewable energy in the form of water. The project is a response to combat the climate emergency in one of the territories that will suffer the most from its negative effects. In fact, 90% of the territory of Gran Canaria presents a high or very high risk of desertification, where mists and droughts are becoming more frequent and the rise in sea levels can cause a setback for the golden beaches. One of the main sources of polluting emissions in the Canary Islands is the production of electricity from fossil fuels. El Salto de Chira, with its innovative design, will put Gran Canaria at the forefront of sustainability by reducing CO2 emissions by 20% and generating 3,500 “green” jobs linked to clean energy and climate change mitigation.
The main environmental impact of pumped storage hydroelectric plants is the construction of dams, which in this case have been built for more than half a century; therefore, the impact is much less than other similar projects. By exploiting the dams present, the initiative, presented in 2021 and now in its start-up phase, will guarantee the protection of the environmental, landscape and ethnographic values of the Canaries. The local body, the Cabildo de Gran Canaria, will take advantage of the works to implement an environmental restoration plan intended not only to compensate for the impacts of the “water battery” but also to eliminate invasive flora and improve the current state of natural conservation . Furthermore, the constant volume of water in the dams will have beneficial effects on the entire ecosystem.
Water battery, the project
The energy transition, i.e. the transition from an energy system based on fossil fuels to one based on renewable energies, requires a large storage capacity. The two main technologies that allow energy storage are batteries and hydroelectric plants (although there are others under study, such as hydrogen). Salto de Chira will store 16 hours of energy per 200 MW of installed power, much higher than the current maximum storage of the world‘s largest lithium battery, which comes in at just over an hour. Traditional batteries are complementary but most use minerals from poor countries and would continue to make economies dependent on rare earth mining. In short, batteries are more expensive, less efficient, and more polluting than power plant, and they don’t benefit from the excess water in this design.
Eco-sustainable islands
The Canary Islands have significantly stepped up their decarbonisation efforts over the past five years. The archipelago’s largest renewable energy complex, consisting of eight wind farms and 12 solar plants, opened in 2022 and provides enough energy for around 54,000 households. The Spanish government and the European Union will support the development of 65 new solar projects in the Canary Islands with 20 million euros by the end of next year. The archipelago is also exploring alternatives such as wave energy, with the first such pilot project launching in February, led by Danish startup Wavepiston. The key to the success of all these projects, says a study of the country, will be the implementation of sufficient energy storage solutions to stabilize the grid during peak demand and the construction of marine cables to connect the islands.
As European countries push towards carbon neutrality, the adoption of energy storage solutions to balance the intermittent supply of renewables and increase energy security is becoming ever more urgent. According to the European Energy Storage Association (EASE), the EU will need 200 GW of storage by the end of the decade and 600 GW by 2050.
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