Endesa’s renewable subsidiary, Enel Green Power España, connected 919 MW to the grid last year, mainly from 16 new solar plants and 4 wind power plants, built applying sustainability projects associated with each installation and developed from the design phase. by the local community. The new infrastructures launched by Endesa in 2022 have involved an investment of 852.3 million euros and the generation of more than 3,000 jobs. This new capacity also eliminates the need to purchase 2,197 million cubic meters of gas per year.
Enel Green Power España (EGPE), Endesa’s renewable subsidiary, has built a total of 919 MW of new renewable capacity in the electricity distribution grid in Spain in 2022, mainly from 16 solar installations (567 MW) and 4 wind power plants (306 MW), while the rest come from improvements made to existing renewable facilities. This new renewable capacity would be equivalent to the energy consumption of households in Castilla-La Mancha.
These new renewable facilities have involved an investment of 852.3 million euros and the generation of more than 3,000 jobs during their construction phase, prioritizing the hiring of local labor. Likewise, this new capacity eliminates the need to compare 2,197 million cubic meters of gas per year.
“Endesa built more than 600 MW of new renewable capacity in 2021, and we have closed 2022 with these 919 MW of new capacity. These are important steps to achieve our objective of total decarbonisation of our energy mix by 2040″, pointed out Rafael González, Endesa’s General Director of Generation, who recalled that “high safety standards have been applied in these projects at the time of their construction and an ecosystem of local agents will now be created in them that allows the creation of shared value with the environment, betting on projects such as agrivoltaics, beekeeping between solar panels and livestock, we promote initiatives that promote energy efficiency in the consumption of these municipalities or the development of bird protection measures”.
Renewable development and local communities
Endesa’s new renewable plants have been located in Castilla – La Mancha, Extremadura, Aragón, Andalusia and the Balearic Islands, developing projects in all these communities that combine the activity of the facilities with the environment, seeking their maximum integration in the territory. It is about converting renewable development into opportunities for the future and establishing population in municipalities generally located in rural environments.
All this renewable development has been accompanied by a training plan that since 2018 has managed to train more than 2,850 people. Endesa, through its renewable subsidiary, Enel Green Power España, has the objective of continuing to offer training courses in the coming years. Advancing in new training programs for the local population, training linked to our activity that is already part of the DNA of our projects: training in Occupational Risk Prevention in industrial facilities, which we have given around our closures, and training in Operation and Maintenance of renewable installations and panel assemblers. Training in the primary sector will also be included for next year, since it is already part of the activity at our facilities, with almost 3,000 people already trained in the 18-22 period and more than 8,000 people planned for the next two years.
Initiatives to make the construction site sustainable, focused on the construction of the project having less environmental impact, with measures that go beyond what the regulations require: installation of solar panels in the construction booths, water collection tanks , efficient lighting, use of electric cars. Elements that many of them are later donated to the community once the work is finished.
The local socioeconomic development block, with initiatives that promote economic activity and local employment. Through the aforementioned training, the hiring of the local population by our contractors and the search for collaborative projects with local agents in the different sectors, primary, secondary and services, to promote this economic activity and employment in the area.
And finally, the axis of sustainable municipalities, with installations of energy efficiency and self-consumption measures, energy communities or electric mobility, with which we help these municipalities to also be sustainable in consumption, thus becoming reference models in energy transition .
In addition, in all the plants the material used in the work, such as the self-consumption panels, the water tanks and the defibrillators have been donated to the local communities.
In Castilla-La Mancha, Endesa’s renewable subsidiary, EGPE, has built 5 solar and 3 wind installations, for a total capacity of 426.5 MW. These are the Minglanilla I and II solar plants between the towns of Minglanilla and Granja de Iniesta in Cuenca, and Calatrava I, Ninobe 3 and Ibereléctrica I in the Ciudad Real municipality of Manzanares. While in wind power, Endesa has built the Campillo I, II and III plants located in Campillo de Altobuey, Enguídanos, Puebla del Salvador, Minglanilla, Castillejo de Iniesta and Iniesta. These wind farms will produce 452 gigawatt hours per year (GWh), and have become Endesa’s highest in Spain, thanks to the 170-meter height that optimizes its operation.
For the construction of these facilities, more than 1,400 people have been hired and 377 million euros have been invested. Now that they are in operation, the development of innovative projects begins, such as the cultivation of saffron between solar panels in the Minglanilla plants, the construction of an insect hotel that aspires to enter the Guinness record as the largest in Europe.
In Andalusia, Endesa’s renewable subsidiary, EGPE, has commissioned 2 solar installations in the province of Seville. These are Sol de Casaquemada in Sanlúcar la Mayor and Esparragal in Guillena, for a total capacity of 100 MW and an investment of 81 million euros.
For the development of this new renewable capacity, it has hired a total of 400 people, prioritizing the hiring of local labor. In addition, the construction of these projects has been based on the Enel Green Power Spain “Sustainable Construction Site” model, including the installation of photovoltaic solar panels to cover part of the energy needs during the work, water saving measures through the installation of deposits and use of defibrillators material that has been donated to the local community.
In Aragon, Endesa’s renewable subsidiary, EGPE, has built a solar and a wind installation, for a total capacity of 90 MW. These are the Tico II solar plant and the Tico Wind wind farm, in whose construction more than 300 people have worked.
These plants have been built applying the most innovative technology, such as drones for topographic surveying, intelligent tracking of turbine components in the wind plant, advanced digital platforms and software solutions to remotely monitor and support activities.
In Extremadura, Endesa’s renewable subsidiary, EGPE, has built 5 solar installations, for a total capacity of almost 250 MW. These are the Agripa, Alaudae and Gémina solar plants in the municipality of Lobón, Tierra de Badajoz in Badajoz and Torrecilla in Torrecillas de la Tiesa pending connection to the grid.
A total of almost 1,000 people have been hired to build these facilities and 175 million euros have been invested. In addition, in the construction of these projects, the latest technology has been used and innovative systems have been applied that have made it possible to reduce the environmental impact during the execution of the work. This is the case of the E-House used to house the electronic equipment in the solar plants launched in Lobón. This prefabricated facility has reduced material use by 60%.
In the Balearic Islands, Endesa’s renewable subsidiary, EGPE, has built 3 solar installations, for a total capacity of almost 20 MW. These are the Son Reus and Son Orlandis solar plants in Palma and Can Lloreta in the municipality of Alcudia.
A total of 80 people have been hired to build these facilities and around 14 million euros have been invested. These plants have been built following the “Creation of Shared Value” model, which incorporates into its business strategy the priorities and needs to improve the economic and social conditions of the local environment in which it operates. Among the social and environmental actions that have been developed, the training of the population stands out with the aim of improving employability in a sector such as renewables with great growth potential.
Data in Spain
Endesa’s renewable division, Enel Green Power España, has 148 hydroelectric plants, 105 wind, 45 solar and 1 biomass installations in Spain. This renewable capacity will increase in 2023, since Endesa, through its renewable subsidiary Enel Green Power Spain, continues to bet on this technology for the energy generation of the future.
Endesa currently manages, through the EGPE, 9,293 MW of installed renewable capacity in Spain, including: 4,668 MW of conventional hydropower; 2,882 of wind power, 1,664 MW of solar power, 78 MW of mini-hydro power.
