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El Hierro Microgrid

Current status, energy mix, organizations, suppliers, equipment, controls, reported specifications, and project updates—with source-level citations.

CoverageDetailed public record
Named organizations10
System facts23
Sources reviewed11
Evidence reviewed2026-07-20

Gorona del Viento is El Hierro's operating wind-pumped-hydro power plant, coupling five Enercon wind turbines with pumping, two reservoirs, four Pelton hydro units, and the island's Llanos Blancos thermal station. It can run the isolated island grid entirely from renewable power for sustained periods, but it has not eliminated diesel annually: Gorona's 2025 report attributes 56% of island supply to the hydro-wind system and 44% to thermal generation.

Research status
Operational. The official operator publishes production through 2025. A proposed 5 MW solar-plus-5 MW battery addition was announced in 2023, but no reviewed source confirmed it as constructed or commissioned by July 2026.
Historical classification
Community
Reported capacity
35,000 kW
Coordinates
27.72550, -18.02430
Evidence note: “Every company” cannot be proven from public material alone. This page lists every organization found in the recovered record and reviewed sources, preserves unknown roles, and explicitly marks undisclosed controller or equipment details.
Report missing evidenceResearch methodology

Project delivery

Who was involved in El Hierro Microgrid?

10 publicly identified organizations. Where a recovered source named a participant without explaining its work, the role remains explicitly unspecified.

Organization

ABB

Supplier of a power-management system described in ABB's island-grid presentation [11]

Organization

ANDRITZ Hydro

Supplier of the hydro plant's electromechanical package, including horizontal Pelton turbine-generator units [10]

Organization

Cabildo de El Hierro

Majority shareholder; Endesa reported a 65.82% interest in 2023 [8]

Organization

Elecnor

Main hydraulic-works contractor identified by ANDRITZ [10]

Organization

Endesa

23.21% shareholder reported in 2023 and operator of the Llanos Blancos thermal generation that supports the island system [8][6]

Organization

Enercon

Supplier of the five E-70 wind turbines [5]

Organization

Gorona del Viento El Hierro, S.A.

Owner and operator of the wind-pumped-hydro plant [5][6]

Organization

Government of the Canary Islands

3.23% shareholder reported in 2023 [8]

Organization

Instituto Tecnológico de Canarias

Technical partner and 7.74% shareholder reported in 2023 [8]

Organization

Red Eléctrica de España

System operator for El Hierro's isolated electric system [7]

System evidence

Energy mix, capacity, and specifications

Values can describe different project phases, generation sources, storage systems, or other components. Source citations are attached to each figure so discrepancies remain visible.

KW Wind
11500 [1]
KW Gas/Diesel
12700 [1]
KW Hydro
11300 [1]
Storage
Hydro [1]
Wind plant
11.5 MW total: five Enercon E-70 turbines rated 2.3 MW each [5]
Hydroelectric generation
11.32 MW final operating rating: four horizontal Pelton units at 2.83 MW each [5]
Pumping plant
6 MW: two 1.5 MW variable-speed pumps and six 500 kW fixed-speed pumps [5]
Reservoirs and head
Upper reservoir 380,000 m³ at about 700 m elevation; lower reservoir 150,000 m³ at about 50 m; gross hydraulic head about 655 m [5]
2025 island energy split
56% Gorona hydro-wind and 44% Llanos Blancos thermal generation [6]
2025 wind production
30,282.498 MWh gross and 29,922.394 MWh net [6]
2025 hydro production and pumping
6,235.930 MWh gross hydro, 5,588.977 MWh net hydro, and 13,185.600 MWh consumed by pumping [6]
Announced future addition
A first phase of 5 MW photovoltaic generation and a 5 MW battery at Frontera was announced in 2023 as a plan, not an as-built asset [8]

Controls and hardware

Equipment and controller details

Manufacturer and model are shown only when a source names them. Generic descriptions are not converted into guessed product assignments.

01

Wind turbines

Enercon — E-70

Five direct-drive wind turbines, 2.3 MW each [5]

02

Hydro turbine-generators

ANDRITZ Hydro

Four horizontal Pelton units. ANDRITZ's supply article used a 2.86 MW/unit contract figure, while the operator's final system page lists 2.83 MW/unit and 11.32 MW total; both dated contexts are retained. [10][5]

03

Power management

ABB

ABB presentation material identifies an ABB power-management system coordinating the islanded hybrid plant; the reviewed public document does not provide a product model. [11]

Technical record

Architecture, performance, and project updates

Concise technical facts, milestones, operating results, and later developments. Dated notes distinguish historical design claims from current evidence.

  • Storage

    When the wind dies down and can’t meet the electricity needs of the community, the water is released and hydropowered turbines supply the needed power. [1]

  • Storage

    The stored water acts as a battery. [1]

  • Storage

    When demand rises and there is not enough wind power, the water will be released to four hydroelectric turbines with a total capacity of 11 MW. [1]

  • Architecture

    Wind power can supply the grid directly or drive pumps that move water to the upper reservoir. Stored water is released through Pelton turbines when wind is insufficient; speed governors and flywheels support frequency control while the thermal station remains available for balancing and adequacy. [5][11]

  • Renewable-operation milestone

    Red Eléctrica reported 18 consecutive days of 100% renewable supply from January 25 to February 12, 2018. In 2017, renewables supplied 20,234 MWh, or 46.5% of annual demand. [7]

  • Commissioning and investment

    IDAE describes a €79 million project and Endesa dates startup to 2015. Public sources sometimes use 2014 for inauguration and 2015 for regular startup, so 2015 is used here for operating service rather than claiming one universal commissioning date. [9][8]

  • Performance interpretation

    Claims that El Hierro is a '100% renewable island' describe the design objective and periods of full renewable operation, not the annual mix. The operator's 2025 accounting still shows 44% thermal supply, and pumping consumption must not be counted as net generation. [6][7]

  • Public evidence gap

    No reviewed source confirmed construction, battery vendor, storage energy duration, or commissioning for the 2023 photovoltaic-and-battery proposal by July 2026. Current unit-level details for Llanos Blancos diesel generation were also not established in this review. [8][6]

Provenance

11 sources

Primary owner, government, university, supplier, and engineering sources are preferred. Archived references preserve claims whose original pages moved or disappeared.

  1. [1]
    Recovered Microgrid Projects record

    Internet Archive · Archived source · captured 2021-04-20

  2. [2]
    RMI

    rmi.org · Archived source · captured 2021-04-20

  3. [3]
    How the ‘end of the known world’ became a model for a sustainable world

    abb-conversations.com · Archived source · captured 2021-04-20

  4. [4]
    A High-Renewables Tomorrow, Today: El Hierro, Canary Islands

    blog.rmi.org · Archived source · captured 2021-04-20

  5. [5]
    Gorona del Viento: Wind-Pumped Hydro System and Interactive Map

    Gorona del Viento El Hierro, S.A. · Primary source

  6. [6]
    Central Hidroeólica de Gorona del Viento: Parte anual 2025

    Gorona del Viento El Hierro, S.A. · Primary source

  7. [7]
  8. [8]
  9. [9]
    El Hierro Wind-Hydro Power Plant, Gorona del Viento El Hierro, S.A.

    Institute for Energy Diversification and Saving (IDAE) · Primary source

  10. [10]
  11. [11]

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