Endesa, through its renewable subsidiary Enel Green Power España (EGPE), is building 27 renewable projects in Spain that will have a capacity of more than 1,130 MW of new green energy in our country. To build these projects, so far this year, more than 4,200 professionals are working in these renewable facilities of the company.
“The solar and wind power projects are being built in the regions of Aragón, Castilla la Mancha, Extremadura and Andalucía, mainly, and their objective is to meet the objective that we have set ourselves of ensuring that all of Endesa’s production is 100% renewable in 2040”, said Luca Capuozzo, the company’s renewable construction manager.
Endesa has reinforced its commitment to clean energy to promote decarbonisation and aims to reach 12,300 MW of solar, wind and hydraulic power by the end of 2024. Growth in renewables will allow 92% of energy production in the Iberian Peninsula to end of 2024 is free of CO2 emissions, six percentage points more than at the end of 2021. This ambitious project to decarbonise electricity production will allow Endesa to be a totally emission-free company in 2040, with 100% of generation linked to renewable sources.
All these renewable projects are proposed under a Shared Value Creation approach, whose objective is to achieve the maximum integration and rootedness of the project with the environment, maximizing the value that they can leave in the local community through initiatives that are carried out in participatory manner, in collaboration with the agents and entities of the area. Activities of the primary or tertiary sector are incorporated into the facilities, training courses are carried out to improve the employability of the local population, the contracting and consumption of goods and services in the area is encouraged, and these municipalities are supported in the path towards the energy transition, promoting initiatives for self-consumption, energy efficiency or electric mobility, among others, both in the public and private spheres.
To specify some figures, in the last 3 years Endesa will have given training to more than 4,000 people in coordination with the city councils of the towns where renewable projects have been developed. Courses in operation and maintenance of solar and wind power plants and in assembly of panels and construction of wind power plants. In the future, courses related to activity in the primary sector will also be included, since they are beginning to be part of the activity of Endesa’s renewable facilities. Likewise, energy transition measures have been implemented in the municipalities where the renewable projects are located: with 31 LED lighting projects, 27 solar projects for energy efficiency and self-consumption and 28 energy audits in public buildings, among other actions.
This is the case of Aragón, where Endesa has just commissioned its largest wind farm in Spain, TICO WIND, with a capacity of 180 MW. During the construction of this facility, 30% of the contracted workforce was local, allowing the generation of added value to the production of renewable energy. In addition, in the vicinity of this wind plant, Endesa’s renewables subsidiary is building two solar plants with a total of 77 MW, combining both technologies in the same area for the first time.
Similarly, Endesa, as part of the ambitious energy transition project after the cessation of activity at the Andorra Thermal Power Plant, has recently begun construction of the solar plant called Sedeis V within the land of the old Valdeserrana ash and slag dump. , restored and closed since 2012. With an installed capacity of 49.71 MW, more than 280 people will participate in its construction, of which at least 30% will be local labor. In this way, Endesa reinforces its firm commitment to economic and employment recovery. Once these facilities are put into service at the end of this year, this solar plant will generate more than 79.95 GWh/year, equivalent to the electricity consumption of 20,271 families. This will prevent the emission of approximately 32,623 tons of CO2 into the atmosphere, equivalent to the circulation of 22,104 cars per year.
In Extremadura, where Endesa is developing new solar capacity, it is beginning the construction of 5 renewable projects, these are the Agripa, Alaudae, Gémina, Tierra de Badajoz and Torrecilla plants, with approximately 49.5 MW of capacity each, and More than 800 people will participate in its construction. This new capacity, which will come into operation before the end of the year, joins the nearly 700 MW already in operation in the region, where Endesa launched 8 new solar installations last year, in which not only the last technology for its operation, but also applied innovation programs are being developed to make solar energy and the primary sector coexist.
This is the case of the solar plants located in Casas de Don Pedro, Talarrubias and Logrosán, which have sheep grazing between panels, contributing to the natural clearing of the land, and agrivoltaic with crops such as cauliflower or peppers. This synergy between panels and crops is allowing the development of an exhaustive study of how the shadows of the photovoltaic panels benefit the crops, so the application of crops is studied individually depending on the location and orography of each renewable installation. In these plants there are also pioneering environmental measures such as the installation of nests-innkeepers for birds of prey, passerines and bats with the aim of carrying out biological control of pests.
In Andalusia in December 2021, Endesa completed the construction of 2 photovoltaic projects: Torrepalma in the province of Seville, and San Antonio in the province of Huelva, which accounted for 53 MW of installed power. The 50 MWp Sol de Casaquemada and 50 MWp Esparragal I photovoltaic plants are currently under construction, with an investment of 81 million euros.
Along with these projects under construction, Endesa is in advanced processing for another 40 photovoltaic projects in Seville, Cádiz, Córdoba, Huelva, Almería, Granada and Málaga, with an investment of 1,400 million euros. All these projects are associated with the Creation of Shared Value (CSV) with local communities, through training courses in renewable matters, since more and more specialized labor is needed, collaboration with different social entities, environmental measures of protection of local birds, and innovative projects such as the solar apiary that already exists in Carmona and that is being studied for implementation in other locations.
Of particular note is the Endesa solar apiary in Carmona, a pioneering project in Spain in the field of beekeeping and renewable energy, which is the first commercial initiative to produce solar honey inside a photovoltaic plant through beekeepers local. This apiary has been integrated with an agrovoltaic crop of aromatics and by the hand of a local beekeeper, with the aim of sharing and not competing for the use of the land. Beekeeping courses and beekeeping activities are being developed in collaboration with the Carmona town hall. It is also an open innovation space that has allowed two Spanish technology startups – Protofy and Smartbee – to implement a hive sensor system to make their operation more efficient. In addition, the Alcázar association of people with disabilities, a reference in the area, has participated in the screws for the installation of solar panels during construction and has also participated in the design and labeling of honey containers.
In Castilla la Mancha, Endesa is building new renewable projects that will generate more than 1,700 jobs during the construction phase, specifically five solar plants and three wind plants are currently under construction, and two solar plants are about to start construction, which will contribute with a installed capacity of 497 MW in total by the end of this year.
Of the new renewable capacity planned for Castilla la Mancha, the works that are currently most advanced are the Campillo I, II and III wind plants, whose construction began at the beginning of this year. These renewable facilities located in the municipalities of Campillo de Altobuey, Enguídanos, Puebla del Salvador, Castillejo de Iniesta, Iniesta and Minglanilla, will become the company’s largest wind power plant in Spain, with a production capacity of 259 MW.
On March 2, Endesa also began construction of the Minglanilla I and II solar plants, two 99.62 MW facilities located in the municipalities of Minglanilla and Graja de Iniesta (Cuenca). Once these facilities are put into service at the end of this year, this solar park will generate more than 172 GWh per year, which will prevent the emission of approximately 114,000 tons of CO2 into the atmosphere per year.
Added to these generation plants is the construction work on Endesa’s first three solar plants in Ciudad Real. Calatrava, Iberelectrica and Ninobe that are located in Manzanares and during its construction more than 250 people will work to set up this new renewable plant that will have a new substation that will be built by 8 local developers, generating a new synergy with the surrounding economy.
In this community, Endesa is processing another 2 projects in Puertollano (Ciudad Real) whose construction is imminent. These are Encina al Sol and Estrella Solar, which add up to a total of 71.5 MW. A third will be added to these solar projects in 2023, Rocinante of 117 MW, and the processing of a new solar plant in Manzanares of 120 MW.
Endesa, through its renewable subsidiary Enel Green Power Spain, is also and above all committed to renewable development on the islands. In the Balearic Islands, the company has just commissioned a new Son Reus solar plant, in the municipality of Palma, with an installed capacity of 12.53 MW, with a production of 20.17 GWh per year.
The Son Reus solar plant, Endesa’s third photovoltaic plant in Mallorca, belongs to a set of renewable projects that Endesa is building on the islands together with sa Caseta (21.83 MW), Biniatria (14.97 MW), Son Orlandis (under construction) and Ca na Lloreta (under construction), located in Mallorca with a total capacity of 56.6 MWp and co-financed with ERDF funds, with an investment of nearly 48 million euros
Last year Endesa’s renewable division, Enel Green Power España, connected 626.65 MW of new renewable capacity to the electricity grid in Spain from 12 solar installations (499.5 MW), one wind farm (123.4 MW) and two hydro (3.6 MW). Thanks to this new capacity, Endesa currently manages, through the EGPE, 8,390 MW of installed renewable capacity in Spain, including: 4,746 MW in hydroelectric plants; 2,546 MW in wind farms, 1,098 MW in solar plants
Endesa is the leading electricity company in Spain and the second in Portugal. It is also the second gas operator in the Spanish market. It develops an integrated business of generation, distribution and marketing, and also offers, through Endesa X, value-added services aimed at the electrification of energy uses in homes, companies, industries and Public Administrations. In addition, the new line of business has been created. Endesa X Way dedicated entirely to electric mobility. Endesa is firmly committed to the United Nations SDGs and, as such, decisively promotes the development of renewable energies through Enel Green Power Spain, the digitization of networks through e-distribution, and Corporate Social Responsibility. In this last area we also act from the Endesa Foundation. Our human team totals around 9,260 employees. Endesa is part of Enel, the largest electricity group in Europe.
