The Island El Hierro, located in the Canary Islands, managed to supply itself with only renewable energy for 4 hours in a row last summer. Since then he has a clear objective: increasingly beat their own record.
Until recently, the record of staying only with renewable energy was 44 hours in a row, but on June 10 it managed to reach the 55 hours nonstop using only green energy. Two full days and seven hours without resorting to fossil fuels. This record has saved some 84 tons of fuel and preventing some 240 tons of greenhouse gases were emitted into the atmosphere.
The two renewable energies used to obtain this achievement were wind and hydraulic energy. But not a common hydraulic energy, if not that the inhabitants have an ace up their sleeve: a hydro-wind power plant. This power plant was built in Gorona del Viento with the aim of supplying the entire island with green electricity.
This type of hydroelectric power station is very novel since it is reversible, that is, it not only takes advantage of the fall of the water to generate energy, but to be able to raise the water from one reservoir to another, it uses renewable energy. They have 5 wind turbines that generate 11,5 MW of power. With that amount of energy, they supply electricity to the island and help the reversibility of the hydroelectric plant thanks to the pumping system and the elevation of the water. The hydroelectric plant has two tanks with capacities of 150.000 m3 and 500.000 m3 of water, which allows it to generate a power of 11,3 MW.
With these two sources of renewable energy, the island of El Hierro can be supplied, but for times of greater demand, they have a generator that consumes diesel. They use this generator less and less frequently, so they are on the right track.