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Cordobilla Reservoir in Puente Genil (Córdoba).
- The jury of the Spanish section of the European Business Awards for the Environment has selected 25 Spanish companies from a total of 115 applications, among which is Endesa.
- Endesa was selected in the Business and Biodiversity category for its project called “Integrated evaluation of ecosystem services in the environment of several Endesa hydroelectric reservoirs”, recognising its contribution to the conservation and sustainable use of the natural environment.
- The European Commission has held the EBAE awards since 1987, in Spain since 1997, to recognise companies which successfully combine the economic viability of their businesses with the protection of the environment. This distinguishes European companies which are leading the transition to a sustainable economy.
Evaluating the services that nature offers society. This was the objective of Endesa’s project “Integrated evaluation of ecosystem services in the environment of several hydroelectric reservoirs”, which was a finalist in the European Business Awards for the Environment, which will be presented tomorrow by His Majesty King Felipe VI. The awards ceremony for this edition will be held at Espacio “Rastro Madrid”, c/ San Cayetano 5. On behalf of Endesa, José Casas, General Director of Institutional Relations and Regulation will be in attendance.
The European Business Awards for the Environment are given to the best projects in order to recognise those companies that successfully combine the economic viability of their businesses with the protection of the environment, thereby distinguishing European leaders in the transition to a sustainable economy.
In Spain, the European Business Awards for the Environment have been held since 1997 and the Biodiversity Foundation, attached to the Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge (MITERD), has been the entity in charge of managing the Spanish section since 2013.
Project data
The “Evaluation and mapping of ecosystem services in Endesa reservoirs” project enables the identification of impacts and dependencies on reservoir ecosystems, improving future strategic decision-making. Specifically, this project is being carried out in the Talarn, Cordobilla and Eume reservoirs, and in the Ribarroja - Flix Reservoir System, so that it covers facilities of different types, which have different environmental and geographical conditions, to get to know their direct and indirect relationship with the ecosystems that surround them.
The work carried out includes an exhaustive, global and inclusive analysis of all the ecosystems, habitats and species present in the territory. The results of this analysis will enable the inclusion in decision-making of localised actions for the conservation, planning and management of ecosystems and biodiversity in these reservoirs and their surroundings. This is in line with the company’s environmental policy and its biodiversity policy, thus enabling the improvement of natural capital and ecosystem services to be included in the management and decision-making of Endesa’s hydraulic business.
More information on the webpage: we care for biodiversity to ensure the sustainability of the planet
Measure in order to know
The current rate of biodiversity loss and the rate at which our ecosystems are deteriorating shows the need for measures that allow us to gauge the impacts and, above all, measure the extent to which society is dependent on nature and the services it provides. In this sense, it is essential to have valuation methods that allow us to take stock of how human activities take advantage of and/or change such services.
As a reference, the main valuation methods available today use monetary or biophysical units. In the case of this study, Endesa has opted for the second option because it enables us to quantify, with unique criteria specific to each basin, the weighted role the reservoirs play in the provision of the ecosystem services of their respective basins.
The main results obtained show that the production of hydroelectric energy associated with reservoirs has an important direct dependence on the ecosystem service of water supply of the hydrographic basin where it is located and at the same time indirectly depends on the erosion control service of the reservoir where it is located. In the climate change scenarios for the 2040 horizon and for the analysed reservoirs, it is estimated that energy production may be reduced by between 4 and 12%, preserving current ecosystems.
Already a finalist in 2016
This award is not something new for Endesa, which has already received it on other occasions, the most recent being the second prize received in the 2015/2016 edition in the Process for Sustainable Development category for its project “El Hierro 100% renewable”. An initiative with an ambitious objective, that of a 100% renewable and sustainable energy model on the island, which enables the island’s electricity demand to be supplied with renewable energy, guaranteeing the stability of the grid.
Endesa’s trajectory in the European Business Awards for the Environment evidence is the path that its management has been setting for years, which considers environmental excellence as a fundamental value of its business culture, assuming a great commitment in this regard, making it manifest in its vision, values and most importantly, in its conduct and action.