The El Hierro project was a successful multi-level governance project aiming to transform the El Hierro Island into the first energy-isolated territory in the world able to power itself entirely from renewable energy sources. In order to reach this objective, both national and local authorities and a private company (Endesa) built a large wind - hydro power plant, with a very innovative system of energy accumulation in water basins at the top of the mountains. Thanks to this innovative system, the public-private company created to manage the system, Gorona del Viento El Hierro S.A., can tackle the problems related to the intermittency of renewable energy production.

1. El Hierro Island, ES - Wind Hydro Pumped Storage Power Plant
Time period: 2005 - 2014
Theme of collaboration: Developing
sustainable energy plans/Engaging
stakeholders in energy plans
Application: Renewable energy production
Topic: Joint planning of sectoral actions/
Awareness raising initiative
Description
The El Hierro project was a successful multi-level governance project
aiming to transform the El Hierro Island into the first energy-isolated
territory in the world able to power itself entirely from renewable
energy sources. In order to reach this objective, both national and
local authorities and a private company (Endesa) built a large wind-
hydro power plant, with a very innovative system of energy
accumulation in water basins at the top of the mountains. Thanks to
this innovative system, the public-private company created to
manage the system, Gorona del Viento El Hierro S.A., can tackle the
problems related to the intermittency of renewable energy
production.
Context / Background
The Island of El Hierro is the smallest island of the Canary archipelago.
The wind-hydro power plant project is contained in the El Hierro
Sustainability Plan, approved on 27th November 1997 by the Council
(“Cabildo”) of the Island. The idea for a wind-hydro plant had been
backed up by the “White Paper for a Community Strategy Action
Plan” where there is a precise reference to a 100% renewable
energy-based territory. The Island Sustainability Plan was definitively
approved on 17th June 2002. Now, since mid-2014, the Island is a
sustainability energy model for the whole region.
Financing & costs
The project cost amounts to approximately € 80 M. For this investment,
subsidies set forth in the General State Budget (€ 35 M) were
transferred to the IDAE ((Institute for Diversification and Saving of
Energy) as nominative subsidies to be granted to “Gorona del Viento
El Hierro, S.A”. The rest of the cost is covered by the shareholders: the
Council of El Hierro, ENDESA S.A., and the Canary Islands Institute of
Technology (ITC).
Upper reservoir
Key results
As from 2014, El Hierro Island is
the first energy-isolated territory
in the world able to power itself
entirely from renewable energy
sources, thanks to a multi-level
governance partnership!

2. Partners involved – Governance
 Council of El Hierro Island (Cabildo of El Hierro, Insular authority)
 The Canary Islands Government, through the Canary Islands
Institute of Technology (ITC);
 Endesa S.A. (largest electric utility company in Spain)
 IDAE Institute for Diversification and Saving of Energy
 Gorona del Viento El Hierro, S.A.
In 2007 the General Director of the Institute for Diversification Energy
Saving (IDAE), the President of the El Hierro Council, in representation
of the project developer and Gorona del Viento El Hierro S.A., signed
the agreement whereby the mechanisms for the provision of public
funding are defined.
Today “Gorona del Viento S.A.” is owned at 60% by the Council of El
Hierro, at 30% by Endesa S.A. and at 10% by the Canary Islands
Institute of Technology. The technical partners (IDAE and ITC) had a
very important consultancy role.
This institutional architecture allows the survival of the MLG
collaboration beyond the timeframe of the project.
Results achieved
The wind-hydro system consists of a wind farm (11.5 MW), two water
reservoirs, a pumping unit, a hydropower plant and a seawater
desalination plant. The Wind-Pumped Hydro Power Station is as of
2014 completed and almost ready to start operating.
Lessons learned & Success factors
This project’s main success factor is related to the involvement in the
project of a wide range of partners, both political and technical
(effective partnership, structured governance). This technical-political
collaboration enabled technologically innovative results, in particular
the collaboration with the Endesa S.A. company.
The experience of El Hierro demonstrates that it is in effect very
possible to achieve energy self-sufficiency using renewable energy
sources in certain areas such as small mountainous islands and
isolated rural areas. It also teaches us that the process of replacing
energy sources should be accompanied by the development of a
culture of energy savings and energy efficiency through new models
of governance.
Wind farm
Contact
Gorona DEL VIENTO EL
HIERRO
www.goronadelviento.es