Madrid - The Spanish Canary Island of El Hierro will become the world's first major location to obtain all its energy from sustainable sources, media reports said Wednesday. The island of 278 square kilometres and 10,500 residents intends to invest 54 million euros (72 million dollars) in establishing a system based on a hydroelectric plant and an eolic park by 2009.
The Industry Ministry may subsidize the project with 35 million euros in the hope that it will serve as a model for other parts of Spain.
The fluctuating output of the wind energy will be complemented by the more reliable water energy, local expert Gonzalo Piernavieja explained.
Both sources of energy will have a capacity of about 10 megawatts.
The system is expected to save more than 1.8 million euros annually in diesel costs and to prevent the emission of 18,700 tons of CO2 into the atmosphere.
"We are facing a challenge which has never been tried anywhere" in a location of similar dimensions, Piernavieja said.
