- Endesa, through its renewable subsidiary Enel Green Power España, is creating authentic natural reserves in the areas surrounding its solar plants that had generally been experiencing diminishing biodiversity due to their previous agro-industrial use.
When you approach the Totana solar plant (Murcia) you begin to perceive a different, peaceful environment, with different birds flying over the solar panels. The same happens in the solar plants in Valdecaballeros and Veracruz (Extremadura), where birds, reptiles, amphibians and rabbits live in a safe environment, protected from threats on their habitat from the agro-industrial environment and human pressure. And if you visit the solar plant in Carmona (Andalusia) or Vega 1-2 (Málaga), you will discover beehives operating surrounded by solar panels and sheep grazing freely and resting in the shade of photovoltaic panels.
These are what we call authentic "oases" that Endesa, through its renewable subsidiary Enel Green Power España, created in its renewable installations, transforming them into small "natural reserves" that combine natural life with the production of clean energy from the sun.
Totana in Murcia has become a paradigm of these oases for environmental preservation. When this solar plant started operating in 2021, Endesa and EGPE decided to dedicate 8 hectares of land to recover and return to its natural habitat an area that until then had been subjected to intensive cultivation and was significantly degraded by the use of phytosanitary products and plastics for this purpose.
The result two years later has been the creation of a reserve in this ecological corridor, where flora and fauna have proliferated naturally as a result of the restoration of the habitat and the provision of an area dedicated to the organic cultivation of leguminous vegetables and cereals that are not harvested, which ensures food and a nesting habitat for the avifauna. In the area you can see unusual bird species such as stone-curlews, sandgrouse, European rollers and birds of prey like the marsh harrier, the sparrow hawk, and the booted eagle. There are also snakes, rabbits and rodents that serve as food, promoting an increase in biodiversity in the area, a reality that contrasts with the aridity of the surrounding area and that led this solar plant to become a case study for experts in the field.
Because there is such a wealth of birdlife, measures to promote biodiversity such as nest boxes, hives for bumblebee, bat nests and drinking troughs have continued to be installed all over the installation, to continue promoting new life around the solar plant. And for the benefit of bird lovers, they are installing an observatory booth where you can spot all the species that have repopulated this ecological corridor.
"We are proud to be able to add value to our society, not only by producing renewable energy, but above all by contributing to the recovery of natural habitats and repopulating our countryside thanks to photovoltaic plants," explained Juan Abad, Head of Environment for Endesa's solar plants. "These actions go far beyond our functions, but we believe that it is our responsibility, it is in our power to do our bit for our planet and we do it with the help of experts and the competent authorities, because we are all playing a crucial role in the conservation of the environment," concluded Sr Abad.
The results observed in the environmental development of the installations have brought about a number of initiatives to promote biodiversity and they are being extended to all of Endesa's renewable plants, always seeking appropriate solutions adapted to each location and habitat.
One of the latest installations in which Endesa, through EGPE, is developing a new ecological island is at the Veracruz solar plant, located between Mérida and Almendralejo and in operation since December 2021.
It is an area of 10 hectares with natural flooding of the land that generates an endorheic lagoon that is host to species linked to aquatic environments. The construction of the solar installation made it possible to identify and protect this natural flooding and to spot in this unique habitat more than a hundred specimens of different species of birds and amphibians including the little ringed plover (Charadrius dubius), the common teal (Anas crecca), the grey heron (Ardea cinerea), the black-winged stilt (Himantopus himantopus), and the natterjack toad (Epidalea calamita). Measures are also being taken to protect, monitor and promote biodiversity by installing nest boxes and perches in the area surrounding the solar plant.
The ecological value of this area, recognised by the Regional Government of Extremadura with which Endesa collaborates, is now a source of study for experts in the field and will make this installation, once adaptation work has been completed, the first solar plant in Spain that enables the protection of a habitat classified as of community interest by the European Union.
In Extremadura, Endesa, through its renewable subsidiary EGPE, is also completing work on the creation of new ponds and restoring existing ones to enhance populations of native amphibians, reptiles and birds at the Valdecaballeros solar plant located in Badajoz. These measures on the ponds will be completed with the installation of nest boxes, perches, reforestation (oaks, ash, etc.) and aromatic plants, reinforcement of populations in rabbit warrens and collaborations with NGOs such as AMUS in a bird conservation project.
In Carmona (Seville) they have just completed work to adapt 9 hectares in the solar plant of Las Corchas and they have turned them into a new ecological island. This land used to be a dump and is now being recovered through the application of hydroseeding to improve vegetation cover sowing seeds of herbaceous, grasses, legumes and shrubs, fertilisers, pH correctors, mulch and special additives, which enable the soil to be restored 25% faster than it would using any other planting alternative.
This same land has also been reforested with specimens of trees (stone pines, wild olive trees, mastics and kermes oak), shrubs (palm hearts, myrtles and blackberry) and native aromatic plants such as rosemary, lavender and thyme-marjoram. The aim is not only to have a plant space that helps preserve local avifauna, but also to provide the bees in Carmona's solar apiary with more sustenance to be able to do their work.
In this installation, Endesa has the first solar apiary in Spain to produce 500 kilos of emission-free honey. It is precisely this apiary managed by a local beekeeper, Juan Ignacio, and his son, fourth and fifth generation of Loramiel, that is participating in an environmental study on the bee population conducted by the El Rincón de la Abeja association. This involved installing 3Bee monitoring systems to determine the number of specimens in the solar apiary, registering biophonies in the areas around the apiary, studying the floral load in the area and creating a map of ecological interaction.
Still in Andalusia, Endesa is also installing nests, perches, insect hotels and drinking fountains at its solar plants in Huelva (San Antonio), Seville (Torrepalma and Casaquemada) and Málaga in La Vega I and II. In all of them, an improvement in the proliferation of avifauna and biodiversity in general has already been observed, with solar plants being found to be a safe environment in which to nest and find food, as well as being free of pesticides and agro-industrial pressure.
Finally, away from the mainland, Endesa and EGPE are developing environmental improvement projects at the company's plants in the Balearic Islands. Specifically in Sa Caseta and Biniatria (Mallorca) new landscape integration measures with plant barriers are being improved and installed, and new initiatives planned for the installation of nests, drinking troughs for birds and collaboration in a number of bird conservation projects through local NGOs.
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. Our workforce numbers around 9,260 employees. Endesa is a division of Enel, the largest electricity group in Europe.