ENDESA S A : Dismantling of coal-fired power plants on islands

• The Vice-President of the Government of Balearic Islands today visited the energy transformation project under development at the Alcúdia thermal power plant, where as of tomorrow the two remaining plants will enter into limited production mode, therefore complying with European environmental legislation.
• Endesa is already dismantling two of its coal-fired power plants on the peninsula, Compostilla (Leon) and Andorra (Teruel), and is awaiting government approval for the As Pontes (Galicia) and Litoral (Almeria) plants.
• All the dismantling processes carried out by Endesa have been designed along circular economy principles, giving priority to local employment, and proposing a renewable future in those same areas.

Endesa is in the process of decarbonising its pioneering energy mix, in which it is prioritising the design of a circular economy for the coal plant dismantling processes, along with the promotion of local employment and the development of renewable projects, all with the aim of continuing to form part of the areas in which the company has historically carried on its activity. This process extends to the islands, specifically to the Balearic Islands where just today the Vice-President and Minister of Energy Transition and Productive Sectors, Juan Pedro Yllanes, accompanied by Martí Ribas, General Manager of Endesa in the Balearic Islands visited the energy transformation project at the site of the Alcúdia Power Plant.

This coal-fired power plant began its shutdown process on 31 December 2019, when in compliance with current European environmental legislation, groups 1 and 2 of the plant were shut down and groups 3 and 4 entered into operation limited to 1,500 hours/year. As of tomorrow, these last two groups of the Alcúdia plant will also enter into limited operation mode, to 500 hours/year.

Endesa is working in Alcúdia on the future project of the entire surroundings of the plant. A sustainable project focused on renewable energies, energy storage and which also includes the conversion of the generators of the coal groups into synchronous compensators necessary to give stability to the island's electricity system as the penetration of intermittent renewable energies increases. It is an innovative project, which avoids costs to the Spanish electricity system and is based on the circular economy. The aim is to give new life to equipment that otherwise would have to be dismantled and recycled.

Throughout this transformation process, Endesa has wanted to give priority to workers forming part of specific relocation plan and who have accepted the Voluntary Redundancy Agreement, as a result of this, the plant's workforce has fallen from 137 employees to 68.

Martí Ribas stressed that 'at the moment the companies and the governments involved need to work together to overcome the inertias that even today make it difficult for us to move forward at the speed we would like towards decarbonisation in a firm and decisive manner'.

Dismantling processes in the peninsula Andorra (Teruel)

The first thermal power plant that Endesa began to dismantling the one in Andorra, in the province of Teruel. Since February this year, more than a hundred people have been working on dismantling this facility, applying circular economy criteria in all the actions being carried out within the perimeter of the thermal power plant's almost 500 hectares.

In total, it is estimated that 260,000 tons of debris will be removed, 90% of which will be recycled. The dismantling process in Andorra is at its peak this August, with 140 people working, 80% of whom are from the area and have been able to participate in these works thanks to the specialised training courses given by Endesa, this being one of the main premises of the company when designing the dismantling process: that the workers be employees of the ancillary companies of the plant or people from the surrounding area.

This dismantling process is accompanied by a plan for the future, the Futur-E, in which Endesa is working to develop 1,700 MW of renewable capacity in the area.