ENDESA S A : There will be the first electric vehicle battery recycling plant in mainland Spain in León

• Endesa and Urbaser are promoting the construction of installations with the capacity to process 8,000 tons a year in Cubillos del Sil (province of León).
• This new recycling plant is part of Endesa's Futur-e Plan, recently approved by the Ministry of Ecological Transition and the Castile-León Regional Government.
• The plant will begin operating at the end of 2023 and could generate about 50 new jobs.

The first electric vehicle battery recycling plant in Mainland Spain will be installed in Cubillos del Sil (province of León) and will begin operating at the end of 2023 as a result of an initiative by Endesa, in alliance with Urbaser. With an investment of 13 million euros, the installation was created under Endesa's Futur-e Plan, through which the energy company will mitigate the effect of the closure of operations at the Cubillos del Sil thermal power plant (province of León), which is already in the process of being dismantled.

This new battery recycling plant is one of the 7 projects recently approved by the Ministry of Ecological Transition, the Castile-León Regional Government, the town councils of Ponferrada and Cubillos del Sil, the University of León and Endesa.

The electric vehicle battery recycling plant is a clear commitment to sustainable development and environmental protection, through the circular economy. A new joint venture will manage the collection of electric batteries in Spain and Portugal, their safe temporary storage and transport to Cubillos del Sil for further processing.

The circular component of this joint venture lies in the activity itself: Re-use and recovery. In the new installations in Cubillos del Sil, those batteries for which it is possible will be adapted for re-use. The others will be electrically discharged, disassembled and subjected to a separation and crushing process that will enable recycling of the materials they contain, such as plastics, aluminium and copper, as well as the "black-mass", which constitutes the part that is rich in strategic metals that are of great value in Europe, like cobalt and nickel, both essential for the manufacture of new batteries.

The schedule for the project was defined with the aim of starting construction work as soon as possible, so that the plant can begin operating at the end of 2023. However, it is planned to start the logistics activity in advance, so the safe collection, transport and storage of the batteries will be brought forward to guarantee the necessary volume that will enable the plant to start at full capacity when the time comes. These activities will generate about 50 direct jobs, plus an as yet unquantified number of indirect jobs. This plant will meet the demand for recycling in both Spain and Portugal, with an estimated capacity for processing 8,000 tons of electric batteries per year.

With a budget close to 13 million euros, this project is part of the circular economy actions that Endesa has included in its strategy and the promotion of which is an objective of both the Spanish Government and the European Union via the Recovery Funds.

Although the very nature of the new plant guarantees its viability, the capabilities and strengths of its promoters, Urbaser and Endesa, certify that this will be a leading recycling facility in the Spanish Mainland.

Urbaser, which will participate in this initiative through Sertego, its industrial waste subsidiary, is a leading company in environmental management, with a presence in 25 countries, and they are experts in the collection, storage and treatment of waste. Sertego will be responsible for managing the twenty collection facilities which will supply the electric vehicle batteries to be processed at the Cubillos del Sil plant. They will also manage operations and maintenance.

Endesa will not only lead the development of the project, they will also contribute management and their knowledge of electric mobility. This initiative will contribute to the relaunching of the El Bierzo region and a clear expression of Endesa's commitment to the circular economy.

This project, together with the remaining 6 within the Futur-e Plan approved for El Bierzo, have been selected to revitalise this region through a programme that envisages the occupation of the site of the old thermal power plant, as well as the use of equipment that was used in this installation. These initiatives will create about 160 new jobs and involve an investment exceeding 260 million euros.

Business projects were selected by international tender with the aim of mitigating the end of thermal generation activities, in accordance with the goals established in Brussels. The projects contributed by Endesa to this process include the development of 625 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy in the area, the organisation of professional training courses and the prioritisation of local labour to dismantle the old thermal power plant.

About Endesa

Endesa is the leading electricity company in Spain and the second largest in Portugal. It is also the second largest gas operator in the Spanish market. It is an integrated business operation that encompasses activities from generation to marketing and through Endesa X it provides added value services to decarbonise energy used in homes, companies, industries and government agencies. Endesa is firmly committed to the United Nation's SDGs and therefore strongly promotes the development of renewable energies through Enel Green Power España, the electrification of the economy and Corporate Social Responsibility. We also work in the latter area through the Endesa Foundation. We have around 10,000 employees. Endesa is part of Enel, the largest electricity group in Europe.