Yllanes and Valbuena agree to follow a joint strategy to promote self-consumption, electric mobility and green hydrogen
The Vice President of the Government and Minister of Energy Transition, Productive Sectors and Democratic Memory, Juan Pedro Yllanes, met this Friday with the Minister of Ecological Transition, Fight against Climate Change and Territorial Planning of the Government of the Canary Islands, José Antonio Valbuena, and have agreed to carry out joint actions to address climate change and for the decarbonization of the islands.

In this sense, both leaders have established a roadmap to achieve the decarbonization of the islands focusing on the promotion of electric mobility, green hydrogen and self-consumption, among other aspects. Regarding the latter, progress has been made on the possibility of creating a network of shared self-consumption in the municipalities that will generate energy, which can be sold at cost price and thus lower the electricity bill.

Thus, with this roadmap, constant coordination will be established between the two autonomous communities, which will facilitate the exchange of information on projects to be developed to help decarbonize the islands. In this respect, the Balearic Islands have set a target date of 2050 to decarbonize their economy, while the Canary Islands aim to achieve this by 2040.

The two autonomous communities have given a major boost to their fight against climate change with two specific laws in this area. In the Balearic case, this legislative project already obtained final approval in Parliament in 2019, while the Canary Islands law is in its parliamentary processing phase at the moment.

Vice President Yllanes said after the meeting that “it is important to establish this type of synergies between two fragile territories such as the Balearic and Canary Islands. It is an honour to be able to detail to my colleagues from the Canary Islands the work we are carrying out here in the Balearic Islands to decarbonize the territory, such as the implementation of the green hydrogen plant in Lloseta. Thanks to this plant the Balearic Islands will live a historic moment by generating, this 2021, the first hydrogen molecule of the whole State and the southern Mediterranean. This plant will allow us to generate 300 tons of green hydrogen each year produced 100% from photovoltaic plants and will reduce CO2 emissions up to 20,700 tons per year”.

On the other hand, both Yllanes and Valbuena have insisted on the necessary involvement of the tourism sector, a vital axis in the economy of both autonomous communities. In this sense, the vice-president stressed that “so that the term sustainable tourism does not become an oxymoron, we need the involvement of the whole sector in this phase of decarbonization. It is important to bet not only on self-consumption, but also on the green hydrogen that we will generate on the island itself. From here we encourage the sector to follow the wake of the Energy Transition and Climate Change Law, as well as the State Law and the Paris and Glasgow Agreements”.

For his part, the Minister of Ecological Transition, Fight against Climate Change and Territorial Planning of the Government of the Canary Islands, José Antonio Valbuena, stressed that since the beginning of the legislature there has been total harmony between the two governments, which have held numerous meetings and have established working synergies to go hand in hand in this process of ecological transition to a sustainable future.

“This collaboration will be key in the management of European funds, where the Balearic and Canary Islands are clear about the action plan to follow and the principle of just transition that should prevail in the distribution of these extraordinary accounts so that no sector of society is left behind in this climate fight in which we are all involved,” added Valbuena.

Finally, Valbuena called on the Government of the Balearic Islands to hold a similar working day in the coming months in the Canary Islands, in addition to the various telematic meetings that will continue to be held between the two departments to finalize this common decarbonization strategy.

The meeting was also attended by Pep Malagrava, Director General of Energy Transition and Climate Change of the Government of the Balearic Islands; Ferran Rosa, Managing Director of the Balearic Energy Institute (IBE); Miguel Ángel Pérez, Deputy Minister for the Fight against Climate Change and Ecological Transition of the Government of the Canary Islands, and Rosana Melián, Director General of Energy of the Government of the Canary Islands.

Once the working meetings were over, Vice President Yllanes and Councilor Valbuena moved with their respective teams to the green hydrogen generation plant in Lloseta, which will produce the first green hydrogen molecule in Spain. The counsellor of the Canary Islands has known the current development of the project, which is already in its final phase.

Later, they have moved to the CEIP Mestre Guillemet of Santa Eugènia to know the first project of public self-consumption promoted by the Govern. In this educational centre, the Balearic Institute of Energy (IBE) is finalizing the implementation of the first installation that will come into operation and is promoted by the Vice-Presidency and the Ministry of Energy Transition, Productive Sectors and Democratic Memory. The objective is to generate clean energy to sell it at a cost price to neighbours and SMEs, prioritizing vulnerable consumers.