It has long dreamt of ending its reliance on diesel fuel, which is transported by boat from its bigger sister island of Tenerife to produce energy — after having been shipped in from further afield.“The electricity bill has remained the same,” says Claudia Barrera, an unemployed, 32-year-old secretary, as she eats breakfast in a cafe in Valverde, the island’s diminutive capital which has no traffic lights. although residents have yet to feel the benefits.So it was that in June 2014, authorities inaugurated the Gorona del Viento plant which combines five wind turbines planted on a hill with one water retention basin further up, and another further down.Interest from Japan, IndonesiaEl Hierro’s aim initially was to cover 100 per cent of its electricity needs within a few months — an objective that has still not been achieved nearly two years on.This file photo shows the reservoir of the Gorona wind-hydro-pumped station on the Spanish Canary island of El Hierro.She promises though that the money saved will go towards other projects.A few thousand visitors tread El Hierro’s shores every year — many of them nature-loving hikers or divers — compared to the five million or so who visit the better-known Tenerife annually.On February 15, this remote Spanish island nestled deep in the Atlantic off the coast of Africa managed just that — for the first time, its hydro-wind plant produced enough electricity for the 7,000 inhabitants for more than 24 hours. (Photo: AFP) This file photo shows the reservoir of the Gorona wind-hydro-pumped station on the Spanish Canary island of El Hierro.

Other European islands like Denmark’s Samsoe and Eigg off the coast of Scotland are also trying to generate all of its energy needs through renewables, but their plants do not combine wind and hydraulic power.And apart from the thousands of tonnes of CO2 that have been prevented from weaving their way into the atmosphere thanks to Gorona del Viento, nearly 3,000 tonnes of fuel oil have been saved according to utility giant Endesa, which owns 23 per cent of the plant...Representatives from the Seychelles, Indonesia, Japan, and Aruba in the Caribbean Sea have already come for a visit.With its rugged coastline of great black volcanic cliffs, badland moonscapes and ancient forests, the island, which is slightly smaller than Malta, is a Unesco biosphere reserve, an area designated to promote its biodiversity and sustainable use.Belen Allende, the current chief of El Hierro’s so-called “cabildo” or local administration, says this is down to Spanish legislation that does not allow its 17 semi-autonomous regions to fix their own electricity prices..And while Samsoe could be hooked up to the Danish electricity grid via an underground cable, the topography of El Hierro’s seabed makes it impossible to connect to the Spanish grid.Juan Pedro Sanchez, head of the Gorona del Viento plant, admits that the average is closer to 50 per cent.2 million euros ($1.4 million).When the wind falls, water in the upper basin is released iinto the lower basin, passing through turbines which generate hydro power.“To have LED Dome Lights factory total energy sovereignty.And then the two water reservoirs are not big enough to produce “clean” electricity all year round, and there are no plans to build another.This unique combination “is very promising” as it solves the problem that renewable energy production is intermittent, said Joelle Noailly, head of research at Switzerland’s Centre for International Environ-mental Studies.But despite these setbacks, the project has generated huge interest, particularly from fellow islands that are directly threatened by global warming.Wary of power outages, the company still prefers to produce electricity from fuel, according to Sanchez.Pines and pineapples vie for space on El Hierro, a tiny rugged Canary island that has gone all out to produce all its electricity from renewables, attracting global attention in the process.“It is a workable model that can be replicated,” says Emanuele Taibi, an analyst at the International Renewable Energy Agency..“It takes time to get this type of plant going, it’s never been done before,” he says.That represents 1.Electricity grid operator REE, he says, still needs to be convinced that it can rely 100 per cent on renewable energy for long periods of time. in an isolated territory is important,” says Tomas Padron, the former chief of El Hierro and instigator of the project.Attracting touristsApart from the obvious environmental benefits, the island wants to use its green image to attract tourists and scientists.