Ibiza and Majorca could be running on 100 per cent renewable energy by 2050, under plans unveiled by the islands’ government yesterday.
The proposed climate change law would make the islands some of the greenest in the world but could also pave the way for clashes with Madrid.
The Balearics generate less than 3 per cent of their electricity from renewable sources at present, primarily from solar panels. Coal-fired power plants, diesel generators and gas plants account for more than 70 per cent of supply, while most of the rest is imported from the mainland.
The plan would involve a phased shutdown of the islands’ main coal plant, at Alcúdia on Majorca, between 2020 and 2025, a proposal that has been rejected by the Spanish energy ministry. Joan Groizard, the Balearic islands’ energy director, said the target to move to entirely renewable energy would mean the islands needed to achieve “100 per cent renewable electricity long before 2050”.
Large car parks would have to install solar panels by 2025. By 2035, car hire companies would be forced to electrify their entire fleets and new non-electric vehicles would be banned from entering the islands.
Mr Groizard said he hoped that the law would help the islands “be recognised as a low-carbon destination, where the rest of Europe can not only enjoy a holiday but also learn something they can then apply to their own energy transitions”.
Sam Fankhauser, director of the Grantham Research Institute at the London School of Economics, said: “Going 100 per cent renewable by 2050 is a much more aggressive target for the power sector than most other countries have.”
Britain is aiming to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent compared with 1990 levels by 2050.
