ITC played a prominent role in the Global Sustainable Islands Summit 2026, an international forum for discussion on sustainability in islands held in Gran Canaria from 20 to 22 April, through a series of presentations and a visit by participants to its technology facilities in Pozo Izquierdo as part of the event programme

The Global Sustainable Islands Summit 2026, held from 20 to 22 April at ExpoMeloneras in Gran Canaria, became an international focal point for discussion on the major sustainability challenges facing island territories. Organised by Island Innovation in partnership with the Gran Canaria Island Council, the event marked its fourth edition, following previous gatherings in territories such as Madeira and the Caribbean. Over three days, the forum brought together representatives of public bodies, experts and leading organisations from regions across the world, including territories in the Atlantic, Caribbean and Pacific, to address issues relating to climate resilience, the energy transition and sustainable development in islands. In this context, the Canary Islands Institute of Technology (ITC), a public company attached to the Canary Islands Government’s Regional Ministry of Universities, Science, Innovation and Culture, headed by Migdalia Machín, played a prominent role both in the thematic panel discussions and in the technical visits included in the event programme.

During Tuesday’s session, Mario González, a specialist from ITC’s Renewable Energy Department, took part in the panel ‘Blue Horizon: Integrating Wave, Tidal and Offshore Wind Energy for the Energy Transition in Islands’, alongside representatives of PLOCAN, Southern Europe-Clean Power, ICNZ and Pure Energy Stream. In his presentation, he outlined the potential of offshore wind energy to support the decarbonisation of island energy systems and highlighted the LiDAR system that ITC has operated at its Pozo Izquierdo facilities since 2023. This tool can measure wind resources up to 20 kilometres offshore, providing real-time monitoring at heights of up to 180 metres.

The ITC renewable energy specialist also presented the future RENMARINAS facilities at the ports of Arinaga and Las Palmas, conceived as spaces for testing and validating marine and offshore energy prototypes. He also addressed the challenges involved in integrating renewable energy into the Canary Islands’ energy system, whose vulnerability stems from the limited interconnection between the individual island systems. He further explained the important role of the Biogreenfinery experimental plant, which received the European Commission’s 2024 REGIOSTARS Award in recognition of its contribution to the green transition and its significant impact on research into green hydrogen technology as a basis for synthetic fuels. In addition to this demonstration project, which is aimed at decarbonising transport—primarily heavy road vehicles, as well as maritime and air transport—he also referred to RESH2PORT as a forthcoming initiative linked to public transport in Gran Canaria. This project includes a planned hydrogen refuelling station at the Port of La Luz with a nominal production capacity of 40 tonnes of hydrogen per year.

During Wednesday’s session, Ángel Rivero, an ITC specialist in desalination and water management, took part in the panel ‘Decarbonising Desalination: Water Security for the Future of Islands’, alongside representatives of Université Laval in Quebec, Ocean Oasis and Canaragua. In his presentation, he emphasised the strategic role of desalination in the Canary Islands, an archipelago with more than 300 desalination plants—the highest density per square kilometre anywhere in the world. He also noted that more than 80% of the population and around 14 million tourists depend on desalinated water, and that on some islands this technology supplies more than 50% of total water consumption.

He also presented data on the sector’s energy consumption and carbon footprint. In 2023, desalination consumed 553 GWh, equivalent to 6.2% of the electricity generated in the islands, and produced a carbon footprint of 444,808 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent, representing 3.5% of the archipelago’s total emissions and 9% of those generated by the energy sector. Based on this assessment, he identified dependence on fossil fuels, CO₂ emissions and the environmental impact of brine as the main challenges. He proposed greater integration of renewable energy, the introduction of energy-efficiency and emissions labelling systems, a reduction in network losses and increased use of reclaimed water as key areas for action. In this context, he highlighted DESALRO 2.0®, with an energy consumption of 1.794 kWh/m³, as an example of the high levels of efficiency achieved in the Canary Islands.

Also on Wednesday, Marianna Venuleo, Head of Section in ITC’s Biotechnology department, took part in the panel ‘Driving Blue Innovation: Biotechnology and Opportunities for a Sustainable Ocean’, alongside representatives of BlueGea Group, MacroCarbon, the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and the Spanish Bank of Algae. During the session, she presented the European ATL.A.HUB project (Atlantic Hubs to Boost Marine Algae Land-Based Aquaculture and Biotechnology), which aims to support the development of algae-related industries by creating Atlantic hubs specialising in land-based aquaculture and marine biotechnology.

In her presentation, she explained that the initiative seeks to address the main bottlenecks affecting the European algae production value chain by using the facilities in Pozo Izquierdo, Gran Canaria, and Vila Franca de Xira, Lisbon, as platforms for developing and validating new algae-based products. The project also includes a replication plan to identify other areas of the European Atlantic with favourable conditions for algae cultivation and suitable regulatory frameworks. Further activities include commercialisation, demonstrations of successful cases, the preparation of shared technology service catalogues and the design of regulatory and governance tools.

As part of the Summit, ITC also welcomed a group of 20 GSIS 2026 participants to its technology facilities in Pozo Izquierdo on Monday, 20 April, as part of the site-visit programme organised by the summit. During the tour, the participants learned about the institute’s principal strategic areas and its ongoing projects and partnerships. The visit included the Biotechnology Laboratory, where they were introduced to experimental work involving microalgae and their applications in food, cosmetics, agriculture and the environment, including examples such as spirulina; the DESALRO 2.0® desalination plant, where they learned how it operates; and the Biogreenfinery plant, where ITC presented its work to support the decarbonisation of transport in sectors in which renewable alternatives are being introduced. The visit also highlighted the progress represented by this facility towards establishing the Canary Islands’ first biorefinery dedicated to developing green hydrogen-derived synthetic fuels.

The 2026 edition of the Global Sustainable Islands Summit positioned Gran Canaria as an international meeting point for exchanging knowledge and identifying shared solutions among island territories. According to the organisers, the summit brought together 111 speakers from 74 countries and delegations from more than 50 islands, consolidating its position as a leading forum for accelerating the transition towards more resilient and sustainable territories. The programme addressed issues including resilient energy systems for islands, the ocean and the blue economy, the circular economy and sustainable tourism, capacity-building in talent, technology and institutional innovation, climate-change adaptation, biodiversity and the management of natural areas, as well as the mobilisation of financial resources for sustainable economic development.