-It seems like a good investment for us, and everyone benefits — economically and environmentally, says local resident Ildefonso Santana. It wont immediately affect their pocketbooks, though. Electricity prices are set at the national level, so El Hierros residents wont pay less for wind and water energy than they were paying for diesel-generated power before. But they will get energy security for the future, says economist Gonzalo Escribano of the Elcano Royal Institute, a think tank in Madrid. How much will be the price for oil in 20 years time? We dont know! But we are sure that we will still have wind in the Canary Islands in 20 years time, Escribano says. And the price, or the cost to generate an additional gigawatt, will be ... zero. Meanwhile, El Hierro is already planning its next energy project. It wants all the islands cars to be electric by the year 2020.-
Posted on: Sun, 28 Sep 2014 20:18:33 +0000