The Energy Sustainability Plan of Cantabria 2011-2020, which replaces the current PLENERCAN, contemplates that at its completion 53% of Cantabria's electricity production comes from renewable sources --four times more than last year--, and 36% of the entire plan, from onshore wind energy.
In total, this plan is set at 1,500 megawatts (compared to the current 300), which includes what has already been awarded in the wind power allocation contest (1,336 MW) and opens the possibility to other tenders and research projects.
The plan mentions other sources, such as offshore wind and mini-wind energy, but also solar thermal and photovoltaic, geothermal or hydroelectric, discarding instead both combined cycles, which do not look "viable" and depend on national regulation, and nuclear energy.
The Minister of Industry and Technological Development of the regional government, Juan José Sota, together with the general director of Industry, Marcos Bergúa and responsible for the drafting team --the Institute of Engineering and Technology of Cantabria, ITEC--, have presented on Wednesday a plan that sets the challenge of "guaranteeing energy self-sufficiency" of the community, promoting R + D + i and minimizing emissions.
From the regional government they emphasize the "scrupulous" compliance with environmental regulations, with an Environmental Sustainability Report that extends to 92% of the Cantabrian territory the areas in which a wind turbine cannot be installed and for which the opinion of some environmental organizations, among other entities, has been counted.
From now on, the Energy Sustainability Plan of Cantabria is subject to a public information period of 45 days from when it is published in the Official Gazette of Cantabria, during which organizations and citizens may submit allegations.
It will then go to the Governing Council to reach Parliament, where its content will be reported, but not voted on, around September or October.
The Minister of Industry has valued that it is a plan "vital for the future of Cantabria" that, as such, has been prepared with an "absolute rigor" and that has had the "fundamental impulse" of the regional government "and the socialists".
For his part, the general director of Industry, Marcos Bergúa, has remarked that "absolutely ironclad" criteria have been taken into account in its drafting, and that it has been chosen, for wind farms, for cumulative environmental impact studies, that is, not one by one but as a whole.
The supply is achieved thanks to the forecasts of wind energy, but also to the expansion project of the Aguayo substation and the recent inauguration of the Soto-Penagos line, in addition to the guarantee given by Red Eléctrica that the energy produced by the wind farms can be evacuated.
The plan takes into account the '20-20-20' initiative, agreed in 2008 by the European Union, which aims to achieve the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 20%, the increase in energy consumption with renewable energies by 20% and the reduction of primary energy consumption, also by 20%.
ENERGY PLAN
The investments planned in the PLENERCAN 2011-2020 exceed 6,300 million euros, of which 91% are private investment. It is expected that with it, renewable energies will go from representing 5.1% of the gross value added of the Cantabrian economy to reach 14%, so that strategic sectors will account for 33.2% of job growth.
GDP growth will be 5,105 million euros (2.6%) and there will be an increase of 21,000 jobs in these strategic sectors
The new Plenercan includes plans to encourage and promote the implementation of renewables, with financial support programs, training measures and the development of regulatory frameworks, and has also provided instruments for monitoring and controlling its objectives.
As for the rest of the energies, offshore wind energy has a target of 500 megawatts, which could be reduced due to the changes introduced in state planning.
In this area, in the coming years, the work of experimentation and development of this technology will be contemplated with the putting at sea of 9 new buoys of greater power, which facilitates that, in the long term, Cantabria can count on a viable and competitive system of wave energy generation. The goal is to produce 10 MW of this energy.
In 2010 there are 488 MW of installed hydroelectric power capacity in Cantabria (ordinary and special regime), with the 2020 objective being an increase of 38 MW in hydroelectric energy as well as an increase of 1,000 MW in hydraulic energy.
For geothermal, a constant annual growth of 12% is set until reaching an installed capacity of 6.10 MW. In photovoltaics, we want to go from 2 MW in 2010 to 4, and in mini-wind, from 300 kW to 3 MW.
In biomass, with projects such as the forest biomass plant planned in Reocín, the aim is to reach 22 MW; and in biogas, the installation of eight biogas plants for the management of livestock waste is expected, with a use of 320,000 t/year of slurry and setting the 2020 target in 8 MW of installed biogas of power.
For biofuels, it is planned to install a bioethanol plant in the Sniace facilities and another for the production of biofuels through algae photosynthesis, in Reinosa; generating both an annual production of 100,000 tons. The goal in 2020 is to produce 200,000 tons of biofuels.
In 2020, CO2 emissions will be reduced by around 4% due to the introduction of electric vehicles and the hydrogen cell on the market. And CO2 emissions per unit of electricity generation will be reduced by around 67.74%.
By that year, the channeling of natural gas will reach 99% of the population of Cantabria. Then, there will be two high-voltage networks in Cantabria. (EUROPA PRESS)
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