Gas Natural Fenosa : is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Velle Hydropower Plant by opening the most innovative control centre in Europe

• The Velle Hydropower Plant entered full operation in early 1967 with the goal of increasing electricity output in Galicia. At present, it has an installed power of 86 MW and an average annual output of 165 GWh.

• Over the last 50 years in operation, the plant has generated electricity equivalent to the two-year domestic consumption of Galicia.

• The new Integrated Hydropower Control Centre (ICC) opened today is fitted with the most advanced technology for managing from Ourense in a centralised and remote fashion all the power plants and dams owned or managed by the company in Spain.

Earlier today, GAS NATURAL FENOSA celebrated the 50th anniversary of the entry into service by the Velle Hydropower Plant (Ourense) at an event presided over by the President of the Regional Government of Galicia, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, and the Managing Director of GAS NATURAL FENOSA, Rafael Villaseca.

Coinciding with the anniversary of one of the most iconic power plants owned by the group in Galicia, the company also opened an Integrated Hydropower Control Centre (ICC) - the most innovative in Europe - that will enable management from Ourense in a centralised and remote fashion of all the power plants and dams owned or managed by the company in Spain.

The Managing Director of GAS NATURAL FENOSA, Rafael Villaseca, who gave a speech at the official anniversary event in Velle, underlined the company's commitment to Galicia, where it has invested one billion euros in the last five years. Furthermore, Rafael Villaseca recalled that, 'in the 1960s, the entrepreneurial initiative of Fenosa created benchmark infrastructure for the country and, five decades on, GAS NATURAL FENOSA is maintaining its commitment to Galicia by opening the most innovative hydropower control centre in Europe'.

50 years of history in Velle

The two generators at the Velle plant entered full operation in February 1967. It was the first of three hydropower plants planned by the company to harness the Lower Miño. Construction of the dam, which lasted four years, was undertaken in a staggered fashion alongside the Castrelo and Frieira hydropower plants to fully harness the power of the Lower River Miño.

Over 1,500 people were involved in building the Velle dam, designed by Luciano (Chano) Yordi de Carricarte from A Coruña, a pioneering Galician engineer in the field of hydraulic and civil engineering, who had previously designed various dams in Galicia, including the Belesar dam, which at 132 metres high is a European record for arch dams.

With an original installed power of 80 MW (two Kaplan turbine generators) and an average annual output of 165 MWh, the power plant entered service with the goal of increasing electricity output in Galicia and helping to industrialise the region.

Today, the Velle Hydropower Plant is a facility fitted with the latest technology in terms of turbines and remote control, automation and tracking of the main operating parameters, which is managed from the new GAS NATURAL FENOSA Integrated Control Centre (ICC). The ICC collects close on 6,000 signals from some 850 sensors and over 25,000 metres of control cables installed at the Velle Hydropower Plant, enabling full automation and remote control.

The recent replacement of the turbine runners undertaken between 2012 and 2014 led to a 9.25% performance improvement by the power plant, reaching 95% turbine performance and a 6 MW power increase to 86 MW.

The Integrated Hydropower Control Centre (ICC), the most innovative in Europe

GAS NATURAL FENOSA has invested close on 6.5 million euros in the new Velle Integrated Hydropower Control Centre (ICC), the most innovative in Europe and one of the most cutting edge in the world. The Velle ICC uses the most advanced technologies to provide centralised management and remote supervision of 51 hydropower plants and 23 major dams owned by the company throughout Spain.

The new ICC includes next-generation control systems and tools to enable a flexible and efficient response to the new demands from the national electricity grid 24 hours a day, seven days a week, while maintaining the highest standards of safety with regard to personnel, installations and the environment. The Control Centre, which manages over 2,100 MW, collects over 200,000 signals in real time from the various assets it controls and supervises. However, the ICC has a capacity to analyse up to 800,000 signals, which will allow for future expansion to include new plants and guarantee its usefulness in the future.

The company's hydropower plant automation process began in 1998, making it a pioneer in the unified and remote operation of hydropower plants. Over the years, currently available technological advancements have since been incorporated. The new ICC represents a significant qualitative step forward by integrating technology and R&D+i to combine all issues associated with the reliable and safe operation of such facilities in a single decision-making environment. The control system was developed by the North American company OSI under the supervision and guidance of GNF technicians.

The Control Centre team consists of 19 professionals, who combine experience and youth to guarantee transfer of the knowledge gained and a capacity to innovate, integrate and handle new technologies.

GAS NATURAL FENOSA in Galicia

GAS NATURAL FENOSA is the leading gas and electricity utility in Galicia. In terms of gas distribution, Gas Natural Galicia has a distribution network of over 3,400 kilometres and over 289,000 supply points in the 76 municipalities where it operates, meaning that almost 70% of the population of Galicia today has access to this energy source.

Unión Fenosa Distribución, the electricity distribution subsidiary, is the largest electricity distributor in Galicia with an 85% market share. It provides service to more than 1.5 million supply points in 286 municipalities in the four provinces of Galicia via a network of close on 60,000 kilometres of high-, medium- and low-voltage power lines. The electricity distributor will invest almost 390 million euros in Galicia in the four-year period 2015-2018 to reinforce the network and improve supply quality.

As regards commercialisation, it has 214,000 customers in the gas market and over 1.7 million in the electricity market.

The power group also has various conventional power generation assets in Galicia: 1,256 MW of large-scale hydropower (26 hydropower plants), 580 MW of coal power (Meirama Thermal Power Plant) and 397 MW of combined-cycle power (Sabón Combined Cycle Power Plant). In the field of renewable energies, it has 320 MW of wind power (13 wind farms in the four provinces), 107 MW of mini hydropower (nine power plants), 38 MW of cogeneration power, 21 MW of natural gas cogeneration power, 2 MW of biogas power and 50 MW of solid waste thermal power.

GAS NATURAL FENOSAis also firmly committed to innovation projects in Galicia and is currently working on various projects. Along these lines, the company set up the International Centre of Excellence in Hydraulics (Spanish acronym: CIEH) in 2011 to promote and channel R&D+i initiatives on harnessing conventional and marine hydropower that could be transferred to the company's facilities during the development or operation stages. The CIEH has promoted a total of 28 innovation projects with an investment to date of 18 million euros, of which 15.4 million have had a direct impact on Galicia.

Velle, 30 June 2017.

Images

Group photo at today's event in Velle.

The President of the Regional Government of Galicia, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, and the Managing Director of GAS NATURAL FENOSA, Rafael Villaseca.

The President of the Regional Government of Galicia, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, at the new control centre.