Projects
Supply of a large crawler crane to the Galapagos Islands
In January 2001, the world held its breath when the tanker Jessica, loaded with 150,000 gallons of fuel, struck a reef and began breaking up in the heart of one of the most precious, famous and fragile ecosystems on earth - the Galapagos Islands.
At risk were vast numbers of unique species of flora and fauna renowned through studies by Charles Darwin that contributed to his landmark theory of evolution by natural selection.
While scores of wildlife required cleaning by Galapagos National Park Service staff and volunteers, the wind and currents stepped in to narrowly avert an environmental catastrophe. Yet the sight of thousands of gallons of oil pouring into the ocean off the Galapagos island of San Cristobal triggered a determined international initiative to mitigate risks of future spills by dramatically reducing the islands' dependence on diesel fuel to generate electricity.
Ecuador's President Rafael Correa launched his country's program to rid the use of fossil fuels on the Galapagos by 2015, an initiative led by the San Cristobal Wind Project - three giant wind turbines that will halve the island's diesel fuel imports and pave the way for further renewable energy development elsewhere in the archipelago.
Turbines installed by the San Cristobal Wind Project, an international partnership between the government of Ecuador, the UN Development Program (UNDP) and nine of the world's largest electricity companies (known as the e8), started supplying power on the islands last October 2007. The system will meet 60 to 80% of electrical demand during the windy months of October, November and December.
The project is the first stage of an umbrella program supported by Equador and UNDP that will eventually bring renewable electricity - hybrid wind-diesel with some solar - to the 30,000 residents of the Galapagos archipelago's five inhabited islands.
The San Cristobal project's primary objectives:
- * Reduce the risk of oil spills associated with the transport and delivery of fuel to the island;
- * Reduce air pollution and greenhouse gases caused by burning fossil fuels;
- * Contribute to the protection of the region's unique biodiversity.
On a larger scale, the project is an example of multilateral collaboration for climate change mitigation and a showcase for the global promotion of small-scale renewable energy power generation and distribution systems in remote areas.
While replacing noisy, polluting diesel generators with clean, renewable wind power would seem a no brainer for the world's most famous ecological site, the journey from feasibility study to construction and completion was anything but straightforward.
The lead company in the project's development, funding and implementation was American Electric Power, which provided about half of the $10.8 million funding. Some $3.2 million was provided by Ecuador and $1 million from the United Nations Foundation, coupled with contributions from the UNDP and other sources. A trust has been established to facilitate the system's ongoing training, maintenance and operation, and eventual removal.
"From day one, the overriding concern was the need to protect this invaluable place and its incredible biodiversity," says Michael G. Morris, CEO of AEP. "The e8 team approached this work with a level of caution akin to the curators responsible for da Vinci's Mona Lisa or Michelangelo's David."
AEP project team leader Paul Loeffelman says the lengthy feasibility study undertaken to address institutional, financial and environmental questions identified when e8 accepted the project was primarily a result of extensive monitoring and studies of the Galapagos Petrel that nests on the island.
The San Cristobal Wind Project has been registered as a Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project under the Kyoto Protocol. The CDM is designed to help developing countries in achieving sustainable development while supporting industrialized countries in achieving compliance with their greenhouse gas reduction commitments.
The project will now receive Certified Emission Reduction (CER) credits for the diesel electricity generation effectively replaced by the wind turbines.
According to project manager Luis Vintimilla of EOLICSA, the company established to operate the project, it is not possible to replace all diesel generation capacity with wind power.
"That would be ideal, but there is not enough wind year round," he said. "In particular, during four months of the year with unfavorable wind conditions, during certain hours on certain days, it will be necessary to continue using diesel generated electricity. However, it is recommended that future work be done on projects to substitute the diesel currently used with a more environmentally friendly fuel."
This project is to be an amazing example of how renewable energy projects can protect some of our most pristine areas from the ravages of energy production. We would love to see these sorts of projects at all of the treasured landmarks all over the world.