It would be nice - remember what ‘F’ in ‘FT’ stands for - to have discussed investment per resident vs. long-term expected savings per resident. Without that info, this is more “feel good” than all that informative. (BTW I support ditching fossil energy myself).
The concept is fine - renewables should be cheaper than other forms of generation - but look what happened to King Island in Australia. (It's between Victoria and Tasmania). It has 5 diesel generators, 5 large wind turbines and a solar array. As I write this it's 7:40pm and dark on the island. The demand is 2235 kW, with wind supplying only about 110 of that (only about 5%) and the batteries taking 6 or 7 kW out of the system as they recharge.
As for Porto Santo, did no-one notice how cloudy and fog-bound the island can be? You'll see it at the start of the video, again around 1:50 and getting a lot of heavy rains, which must mean clouds, around 2:30. Note also that there's no mention of the costs involved in setting up the system (and who paid), nor the costs of replacing parts of it 15 to 20 years into the future.
Congratulations to your far-sighted planning and realization of this project! This is the future, not the garbage spewed by those who also want to rob us of democracy and put up every possible hurdle against renewable energy projects. What will not renew itself is their stupidity!
Once in place nothing more needs to be purchased to power the island. Simply harvest and store energy everyday because of the sun (even the wind is a result of the sun!)
Islands that have to import their source of energy, such as fossil fuels, are the most vulnerable to market disruptions, and distributors leave them at the end of the list. That is why they must secure their own energy. The Cuban people desperately need these technologies!
I’m delighted it’s working for them. El Hierro in the Canary Islands is supposedly self-sufficient for energy but the project execution “left a few opportunities for improvement“. Maybe El Hierro will install batteries now that sodium cell technology is promising around $19 per kWh.
after that little scottish island became 100% renewable / battery powered ...
great to see a bigger island do the same.
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As for Porto Santo, did no-one notice how cloudy and fog-bound the island can be? You'll see it at the start of the video, again around 1:50 and getting a lot of heavy rains, which must mean clouds, around 2:30. Note also that there's no mention of the costs involved in setting up the system (and who paid), nor the costs of replacing parts of it 15 to 20 years into the future.
great to see a bigger island do the same.