It's not innocent. Unelco and the public company ITC have signed a collaboration agreement that will allow the development, initially for one year, of a microalgae plant at the facilities of the Barranco de Tirajana thermal power plant, in Juan Grande. This is a pilot project led by ITC researchers that will allow the plant's combustion gases to be used to feed the cultivation of marine plants, subsequently analyzing, among other parameters, the development, resistance capacity of the algae and absorption of the carbon dioxide. This research collaboration project falls within the decarbonization framework that Endesa has proposed.
The Technological Institute of the Canary Islands will be able to have, based on this agreement, an outdoor space of 90 square meters, within the facilities of the Juan Grande thermal power plant. With the aim of developing a pilot project at this site to test the optimization of the capture of combustion gases from the plant by microalgae cultivation systems.
Endesa has not only agreed to cede the land to the team of researchers but also access to a low voltage connection point, access to a supply water supply point, access to a seawater supply point and access to a direct intake point for combustion gases in the chimney of the thermal power plant. In the study, only plants that have previously been isolated in the sea waters of Pozo Izquierdo, close to Juan Grande, will be used. These microalgae grow spontaneously and naturally.