About Endesa

Endesa has been involved in the battle to combat climate change since 2005. That year the company launched the Endesa Climate Initiative (ECI), a plan to respond to new requirements and to anticipate the implications of the Kyoto Protocol. Its objective – to reduce CO2 emissions and encourage a sustainable growth model in developing countries - has been achieved through the acquisition of a wide portfolio of CDM/JI projects which guarantee Endesa the efficient and competitive operation of its generation assets.

After more than three years of development, in 2008, Endesa decided to go a step further and acquired AHL Carbono in the US, a company specialising in the identification and development of CDM projects and the provision of carbon consultancy services. The union of these two projects, ECI and AHL Carbono, resulted in the creation of Endesa Carbono, a company in which Endesa holds an 82.5% stake, with the former partners from AHL controlling the remaining 17.5%.

In 2010, Enel started to integrate several business units and created the Carbon Strategy Unit as the single point of reference for the Group's carbon emissions reduction business. Drawing on the skills and know-how of Endesa in the market it tasked Endesa Carbono with the task of “origination” with two core duties: acquisition and consultancy.This has entailed a change in the direction of the strategy implemented to date. The main objective is to take advantage of the new opportunities offered by the global carbon market, changes to domestic, European and international regulations and the opening of new markets such as the US and Australia.

Endesa Carbono offers expertise in the carbon market and draws on its long experience in greenhouse gas emission reduction projects. It delivers services in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru, the Philippines, China and the UAE, leveraging its worldwide office network.

One of Endesa Carbono’s chief strengths is its active presence in these different markets, permitting it to identify Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and Joint Action (JA) projects both in Endesa’s installations and in those of other companies. Its position in the US is also crucial to launching the carbon market in this country, which has made a firm commitment to cutting emissions.

Endesa Carbono constantly endeavours to improve its technical, financial and institutional capacities in order to maintain the exceptional standard of its projects and strategies.

Endesa Carbono remains leader in a rapidly maturing market, with a wide range of products for purchasers and sellers of carbon credits. With its knowledge of the market and contacts with leading purchasers of carbon credits (CERs, ERUs, VERs..), Endesa Carbono offers a unique coordination and communication platform for purchasers and vendors of CERs to reach agreements, thereby maximising the value of transactions.  

Consultancy, assessment and intermediation

Endesa Carbono provides consultancy services via its worldwide office network and advises private companies and institutions, sellers, developers and owners of projects with the aim of registering CDM projects. To date it has registered over 25 customer projects and is working on 30 projects for which requests are being prepared.

Many of these external customers with projects in CDM countries (mainly in Latin America and Southeast Asia) also choose Endesa Carbono as their intermediary to place their CERs on the European and international markets, thereby benefiting from Endesa’s trading platform in the wholesale markets and accessing the spot market for secondary CERs.

Endesa Carbono has already placed several million CERs and has contracts with a wide range of customers including municipal authorities, carbon funds, major multinational generators, small IPPs and local developers, among others.

Endesa Carbono has participated in the US voluntary markets since their launch via its subsidiary in Washington DC. Through subsidiaries and joint ventures in North America it has promoted both domestic and international projects in forestry, landfill sites, industrial gases and agriculture.

Enel/Endesa’s portfolio of CERs/ERUs occupies first place in the global carbon market ranking. At the end of 2010 the two companies had a combined portfolio of 105 CDM projects, representing over 195 million tonnes of CO2 emissions reductions and accounting for 13% of the credits granted by the United Nations.

In 2010, Endesa's CDM/JI portfolio amounted to 94.57 million Certified Emissions Reductions (CER)/Emission Reduction Units (ERU), 89.62 million of which correspond to Emissions Reduction Purchase Agreements (ERPA), and 4.95 million to letters of intent (LOI). Excluding Funds, 70% of the tonnes contracted via Endesa Carbono’s projects are registered and 20% are from renewables projects.

Endesa Carbono, in partnership with Endesa’s subsidiaries, identifies in-house CDM projects in countries where Endesa is already present in the electricity sector, such as South Africa, the Maghreb, and other developing countries, and registers them with the United Nations. In doing so it contributes to the sustainable development of these countries by investing in clean technologies and securing the corresponding reductions in CO2 emissions. These projects include the Ojos de Agua, Callahuanca and Canela initiatives in Latin America.

Ojos de Agua

The Ojos de Agua hydroelectric plant is a run-of-river facility in the Seventh region of Chile which relies on water from the Cipreses River.It is a project developed by Endesa Eco, with an installed capacity of 9 MW. Forecast production is some 48 GWh per year. The slated reduction in CO2 emissions is around 146,000 tonnes over seven years, some 28,870 tonnes per year. Ojos de Agua was registered by the UNFCCC as a CDM in April 2007, and was the first of Endesa's own projects to be registered. An audit is currently being performed to produce its first CERs.

Callahuanca

The Callahuanca hydroelectric power station is a run-of-river plant on the Santa Eulalia River near Lima, Peru. It is an expansion of the capacity of the plant. The energy generated replaces that produced by thermal power stations which use fossil fuels. The project has enabled the re-powering of the plant from 75 to 82.5 MW

The Project was registered as a CDM at the start of 2008, with a total reduction in emissions estimated at 100,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent in the first credit period. It was the first project approved by the Spanish body AND. An audit is currently being performed to produce its first CERs.

Canela I

The Canela wind farm is located in the Commune of Canela, in the province of Choapa, IV Region of Coquimbo (Chile), some 80 km to the north of the city of Los Vilos. Canela is the first wind farm in Chile to be connected to the Central Interconnection System (SIC).

The facility has an installed capacity of 18.15 MW and an estimated annual output of some 47.7 GWh. It is expected to reduce CO2 emissions by some 27,000 tonnes/year, and almost 190,000 tonnes during the 7 years of the CDM.

The project was registered as a CDM with the UN in April 2009 and is currently being verified by the organisation. Measures were taken to fulfil the requirements to obtain the Gold Standard in the voluntary carbon market in order to verify and trade the emissions avoided since the facility was commissioned and registered as a CDM, and the project is close to securing this certification.

The second 69-MW phase (Canela II) is under construction and will increase the wind farm’s total installed capacity to 87 MW. The project is on the verge of being registered as a CDM.

Ventanilla

The Ventanilla project in Peru is currently being registered with the United Nations after passing an audit. This CDM project unlocks the value of transforming two open gas cycles of 160 MW each into a 490 MW combined cycle.

Quimbo

In Colombia the El Quimbo project is under development, and entails the construction of a 400-MW hydroelectric plant in the basin of the Magdalena River in Huila province. This project will displace 600,000 tonnes of CO2 per annum.

In addition to developing or participating in CDM projects, Endesa also participates in several carbon funds. These include those managed by the World Bank, such as the Community Development Carbon Fund, the objective of which is to provide a stable, coherent international framework within which CDM projects can be developed. Priority is accorded to small-scale projects in underdeveloped countries. Other Funds managed by the World Bank in which Endesa is involved are the Spanish Carbon Fund, the Umbrella Carbon Facility and the Carbon Partnership Facility. It also participates in the MCCF Fund managed by the European Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, which is primarily responsible for securing and developing JI projects in Eastern European countries.

World Bank Community Development Carbon Fund

Endesa first participated in a fund in 2003: the World Bank Community Development Carbon Fund. The aim was both to guarantee a quantity of credits which, however small, would meet part of Endesa’s need to reduce GHGs, and to participate in the work carried out by the World’s Bank Carbon Unit, at that time the body which boasted most experience in this market.

Spanish Carbon Fund

The Spanish Carbon Fund was launched to meet the need to purchase carbon credits from the Government and Spanish companies. The priority of this fund is to invest a large part of its resources in projects in Latin America. It also prioritises investment in renewable energy projects. In addition to the Spanish government, which is the main participant, the largest Spanish energy companies also participate in this fund.

Umbrella Carbon Facility

The Umbrella Carbon Facility is a World Bank fund which purchases carbon credits from two major HFC-23 reduction projects in China. This initiative was established to meet the carbon purchase needs of companies that require large volumes, such as Endesa. Sixty five per cent of the revenues generated by the two companies that own the projects revert to the Chinese government, which uses them to create an investment fund for sustainable development projects in the country.

GG-CAP Fund

The GG-CAP Fund was launched by Natsource, one the major players in the carbon market. Endesa has always enjoyed a good relationship with Natsource and decided to enter the fund to diversify its portfolio and risk.

MCCF Fund

Endesa participates in the MCCF Fund, which is co-managed by the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). This fund only purchases carbon credits from projects that have been financed by the EIB or EBRD in countries where both banks operate. For Endesa, this represents a good opportunity to establish contact with markets to which it has more limited access.

Team

The human qualities, training and know-how of our team ensure the success of the operations in which Endesa Carbono is involved.

Endesa Carbono has an international team of professionals with a proven track record from private and public companies in the energy and international finance sectors, NGOs, the engineering industry and the World Bank.

The team provides services and assistance to public and private entities in developing countries to identify, finance and develop CDM projects and boasts unrivalled experience in the energy sector, chiefly in Latin America, the Philippines and China.