Overview
The Canary Islands is an outermost region situated in the West-South of Spain in which the tourism sector plays an important role in the local economy. The municipality of San Bartolomé de Tirajana is situated in the Southern part of Gran Canaria Island with a population of 53,588 inhabitants and is the island’s main tourist zone. Energy consumption is 853,765 MWh/year, causing the release of 496,133 t CO2. Tourist activities account for 51.4% of the total energy consumption and 42.4% of CO2 emissions. Domestic hot water production, swimming pool heating and space cooling in touristic structures account for 65-70% of total energy consumption. LPG, diesel and electricity are used to provide such services. There is no experience in district heating, so thermal energy demand is mainly supplied by small-medium size boilers and chillers. Solar thermal systems and heat pumps are used to a lesser extent. RES electricity generation represents 15.9% of the total electricity consumption while solar thermal energy accounts for 0.47% of final energy consumption.
The primary goal of the local energy community is to generate environmental, social, and economic benefits through a pioneering project aimed at producing and distributing renewable electrical and thermal energy. This initiative focuses on meeting the thermal energy demands for heating outdoor swimming pools via a district heating system. The project seeks to decarbonise thermal energy consumption in tourist areas, benefiting both tourist establishments and residential buildings that share similar energy needs.
The highest potential members involved in the energy community are 5 extra-hotel establishments, 1 residential building, the municipality of San Bartolomé de Tirajana and the Association of Hotel, Tourism and Tourism Businesses of Las Palmas (FEHT). The 5 extra-hotel establishments are considered SMEs and between them, they have a total of 439 hotel beds, while the residential building has a total of 120 dwellings.
Energy size
A preliminary analysis carried out indicates that the power of the aerothermal heat pump for outdoor pool heating is 664 kWth. On the other hand, since the heating of outdoor swimming pools must be carried out with 100% renewable energy, the heat pump must be powered by renewable electrical energy. For this purpose, a photovoltaic installation of 400 kW has been estimated, equivalent to a surface area of 1905 m2. The thermal energy production associated with the heat pump is 2825 MWh/year, while the electrical energy produced by the photovoltaic installation is 653 MWh/year.
Ambition, vision and expected objectives