Beginning late June, El Hierro, the smallest of the Canary Islands, will be the world's first land mass to run completely on renewable energy.

"The true novelty of El Hierro is that technicians have managed, without being connected to any national network, to guarantee a stable production of electricity, that comes 100 percent from renewable energy, overcoming the intermittent nature of the wind," Alain Gioda, climate historian at France's IRD science research institute and one of the minds behind the project, told AFP.

The island, which is owned by Spain, will feature a wind farm boasting five turbines with a combined output of 11.5 megawatts. The wind farm will be stationed near Valverde, the island's capital, and will get its wind from Africa's Atlantic coast. This should be enough to take care of the island's 10,000 residents and water desalination pants. In the event that there is not enough wind, the island will use a water turbine. El Hierro's fuel oil power station will also stay active, just in case.

"This system guarantees us a supply of electricity," Juan Manuel Quintero, director of the Gorona del Viento wind power plant, said.

When the wind farm first opens, it will only generate about half of El Hierro's energy, but during the "following months" it will eventually be responsible for 100 percent of the island's energy.

The project, which is the brainchild of the International Organization for Renewable Energy, will eliminate carbon dioxide emissions by 18,700 tonnes per year and the island's total yearly oil consumption of 40,000 barrels. It cost 80 million euros ($110 million) to complete.

"It is a project which is considered at the world level as a pioneer, and it is one of the most important in the production of renewable energy," Alpidio Armas, president of El Hierro's local council, explained.

El Hierro has been asked to present its innovation at several international conferences. Island cultures like Aruba, Hawaii, Samso, Denmark, Oki, Japan and Indonesia have all expressed interest in the project.

"El Hierro can be a sort of laboratory," Armas added.

Sixty percent of the wind farm is owned by El Hierro officials, 30 percent is owned by Endesa, a Spanish energy company, and 10 percent is owned by a local technology institute. Armas predicts that the wind farm will raise El Hierro's budget by one to three million euros a year.

"These are revenues that can go to the local residents, to subsidize water prices, infrastructure [and] social policies," Armas explained. "We cannot turn down the benefits that tourism brings, but we don't want mass tourism."

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Follow Scharon Harding on Twitter: @SH____4.

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