- At the meeting, the President of the Andalusian Executive, accompanied by the Ministers of Sustainability, Environment and Blue Economy and Industrial Policy and Energy, had the opportunity to get first-hand information on the most significant issues on Endesa's environmental agenda in the territory, including decarbonisation, biodiversity conservation, the creation of shared value and the circular economy.
The President of the Regional Government of Andalusia, Juan Manuel Moreno, accompanied by the Ministers of Sustainability, Environment and Blue Economy, Ramón Fernández-Pacheco, and of Industrial Policy and Energy, Jorge Paradela, held a meeting this morning with Endesa's Environment Manager, Jorge Pina, and with Enel's Manager of Energy and Climate Policy, Daniele Agostini, during the 27th United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP27 Climate Summit), which had been taking place since 6 November in the Egyptian city of Sharm el-Sheikh.
During the meeting, the members of the Andalusian executive were able to confirm Endesa's commitment to the decarbonisation of its activity in Andalusia, a territory in which it has been involved in economic and social development for more than 128 years, as well as its commitment to the conservation of biodiversity, the circular economy and the creation of shared value in all its activities with a view to achieving real and fair ecological transition in the region.
In this regard, the representatives of Endesa and Enel had the opportunity to review the company's agenda in Andalusia to achieve the challenge of achieving by 2040, ten years ahead of schedule, the goal of being a 100% renewable company including a complete exit from the gas business, both with regard to generation and retailing, and without resorting to carbon capture techniques or emissions compensation.
With this in mind, Endesa plans to invest more than €3,500 million over the next three years, a figure that would increase by another €1,500 million with the auction of the Carboneras fair transition hub, following the closure of the Litoral thermal power plant in 2022, Endesa's last coal-fired thermal power plant in the territory.
The President of the Regional Government of Andalusia highlighted the commitment of the Enel group and Endesa to Andalusia, "which has established in our region an investment and transformation benchmark in the field of renewables by investing €10,000 million by 2030. This will help make Andalusia one of the most sustainable regions in Europe."
Meanwhile, Jorge Pina, Endesa's Environment Manager, stressed that "Climate change is a historic opportunity for Spain and Andalusia to lead the energy transition with the deployment of renewable generation and Endesa is a reliable strategic partner to turn the autonomous community into a benchmark in economic, social and environmental sustainability through the promotion of renewable energies, mainly photovoltaic and wind, and unique projects that will help achieve the decarbonisation and electrification of the industrial, business and domestic fabric".
Unique projects
Closure of the Litoral coal-fired thermal power plant and circular dismantling
As an essential feature of its firm commitment to decarbonisation, Endesa is dismantling the plant after its closure a year ago. This will take approximately 4 to 6 years and will be undertaken following circular economy principles, with the aim of creating value for over 90% of the materials and finally obtaining a zero waste certificate.
This action represents a step forward in the fair transition process that Endesa is promoting in Andalusia, with the aim of replacing this plant's generation capacity with clean and renewable technologies. To achieve this, Endesa decided to install about 1,500 megawatts of power, mainly photovoltaic, to replace the 1,159 megawatts produced by the thermal power plant, which will involve an investment of about €1,200 million and the creation of more than 2,000 equivalent jobs, as well as the creation of wealth and employment in the area.
Shared Value Creation Projects in the development of renewable energies
Endesa's renewable projects are designed in collaboration with environmental agents and their ultimate objective is to maximise the social-economic impact they have on the community, prioritising the incorporation of local labour, training in renewable energies, the introduction of agriculture on the land occupied by photovoltaic plants (agrivoltaic), grazing and activities such as beekeeping.
This philosophy is an essential feature of all the investments in renewable energies planned in the territory, for a value of about €1,400 million, with 42 projects in the pipeline representing 2,173 MW, accompanied by storage and hybridisation projects.
Care for biodiversity
The protection of biodiversity and the improvement and maintenance of the natural capital of natural ecosystems are part of Endesa's strategy to create more habitable and sustainable environments for future generations.
To achieve this, Endesa is developing numerous initiatives in the environments where it operates, these include the recovery of the lesser kestrel by means of reintroduction and monitoring techniques; the conservation of the osprey in Cádiz and Huelva; the assessment of ecosystem services in the vicinity of hydroelectric reservoirs; the study of bats in hydro-electric installations that aims to improve the habitat for these species and their conservation; the study of invasive algae in the Bay of Cádiz; and the promotion of Endesa's Forests in Doñana and Peñarroya, with the aim of restoring the forest in those areas that were affected by a fire in 2017 in the first case, or reconditioning old mining areas, in the second case.
Promotion of electric mobility
Through its electric mobility subsidiary Endesa X Way, Endesa now has more than 830 electric vehicle charging stations in Andalusia, which represents the largest market share in electric vehicle charging infrastructure in Andalusia, with almost 60%. The short-term challenge is to exceed 1,000 charging stations within the territory.
Development of green ports
Endesa is developing projects to reduce the ecological footprint left by port activity in the territory, these include an OPS (On‐Shore Power Supply) Installation at the Port of Cádiz, where the company will be the first company nationwide to offer these electricity supply services to cruise ships while they are docked in order to reduce their consumption of fossil fuels and the emission of polluting particles and greenhouse gases.
Endesa is also installing a liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply plant at the Los Barrios port terminal, as part of its energy transition and decarbonisation strategy to reduce emissions into the atmosphere. With this project, Endesa will be the first company to offer LNG refuelling services to the more than 120,000 ships that sail through the Strait of Gibraltar every year and to the 40,000 ships that call at the Port of Algeciras, one of the main bunkering ports in the world.
Sustainable and circular cities
Endesa is a leader in this field with two international flagship projects for sustainable, renewable cities of the future, based on the circular economy. In collaboration with the Regional Government of Andalusia, the PCT Cartuja and Málaga TechPark technology parks, and the city councils of Seville and Málaga, Endesa has launched eCitySevilla and eCityMálaga that aim to anticipate the challenges that cities will have to face and to do this 25 years earlier than the European Union expects, through initiatives involving the collaboration of the energy, transport, building, circular economy and waste sectors, with the support of the telecommunications sector and digitalisation.
About Endesa
Endesa is the largest electricity company in Spain and the second largest in Portugal. The company is also the second largest gas operator in the Spanish market. Endesa operates an end-to-end generation, distribution and marketing business. Through Endesa X it also offers value-added services aimed at the electrification of energy usage in homes, companies, industries and Public Administrations. A new business line has also been created, Endesa X Way fully dedicated to electric mobility. Endesa is firmly committed to the United Nations SDGs and strongly supports the development of renewable energies through Enel Green Power España, the digitalisation of grids through e-distribución, and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The Endesa Foundation is also active in CSR-related matters. Our workforce numbers around 9,260 employees. Endesa is a division of Enel, the largest electricity group in Europe.