El Hierro is a small Spanish island of less than 300 square meters that belongs to the Canary Islands archipelago. It is now the first island in the world to be self-sufficient with renewable energies. This was made possible thanks to the hydroelectrical power plant, called Gorona del Viento, inaugurated on June 27th 2014. It has a wind farm with an integrated water power plant. When the wind is strong, which is frequent on the island, the five windmills of the plant produce energy and sea water is sucked up towards a first tank located in a volcano crater at 700m high. When the wind dies down, the water goes down to a tank located 650 meters lower, and goes through turbines, thus producing power. This mix station can cover the electrical needs of the entire island thanks to renewable energies. Indeed, it has a 11.5 megawatts production capacity, whereas the needs of the islands are aproximately of 4 megawatts. The plant should also supply seawater desalination plants.

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