El Hierro, the smallest of Spain's Canary Islands, is set to become the world's first fully self-sufficient island, generating its power from wind and water.
A wind farm will open at the end of June on El Hierro, and will use gusts of air as a source of energy, according to Daily Mail.
Five turbines installed at the northeastern tip of the island, close to the capital Valverde, will have a total output of 11.5 megawatts - that's enough power to support the island's 10,000 residents and water desalination plants.
Experts say that while other islands around El Hierro use solar and wind energy for power, El Hierro is the first island to have a constant supply of electricity - achieved by combining water and wind power - without any connection to an outside electricity network, Discovery News reported.
Excess energy from the wind turbines will be used to pump fresh water from a reservoir close to the harbor to a bigger one at volcanic crater almost 700 meters (2,300 feet) above sea. When there is little-to-no wind, the water will be channeled down through the turbines to the lower reservoir, where electricity will be generated.
"This system guarantees us a supply of electricity," said Juan Manuel Quintero, director of the Gorona del Viento wind power plant. Quintero is supervising final tests before the plant begins functioning.
When the plant is officially inaugurated at the end of June, it will meet half of the island's demand for electricity. The percent of demand met will increase to 100 over the coming months, Daily Mail reported.
The project will take away 18,700 tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year and get rid of the 40,000 barrels of oil consumed by the El Hierro each year. The island will keep its fuel oil power station as backup.
Alain Gioda, a climate historian at France IRD science research institute, said the El Hierro is a pioneering project, Dsicovery News reported.
"The true novelty of El Hierro is that technicians have managed, without being connected to any national network, to guarantee a stable production of electricity, that comes 100 percent from renewable energy, overcoming the intermittent nature of the wind," Gioda said.
El Hierro's plant has gotten other islands, such as Aruba, Hawaii, Samso and Oki, interested in using wind and water for energy.
