- Endesa and Apadrinaunolivo.org are working together in a Fair Transition project for Andorra and Pego, Portugal, whose essential objective is not only to replace coal with renewable energies, but to do this based on a pioneering local support plan.
- Apadrinaunolivo.org, a model for entrepreneurship founded in 2014 to generate sustainable development in sparsely populated rural areas and highlight the importance of abandoned olive groves, and which has been recognised by Forbes magazine in a series of articles including "the 100 most creative models in the world of business".
- In 2023, this project contracted 28 people in these areas and obtained more than 1,000 sponsors.
n the vicinity of the Andorra thermal power plant that is currently being dismantled, there are large areas of olive groves with a unique variety of olive tree, the "manzanota". In Portugal, in the vicinity of the Pego thermal power plant that has also been closed, you will find the oldest olive tree in the Iberian Peninsula, a silent witness of a world that is developing but at the same time is looking to return to its roots.
Both processes for the closure of coal-fired plants come together with a social-economic plan led by Endesa as a result of being awarded the only two tenders for Fair Transition projects that have been held so far on the Mainland. This plan is the key to success because the environment and its requirements have been taken into account at all times.
And an essential feature is the support given to the work being undertaken by Apadrinaunolivo.org. Endesa and this non-profit organisation have joined forces in these areas and in 2023 they have managed to recover 2,174 olive trees (1,000 in the Andorra area and 1,074 in Pego), with nearly 1,100 sponsors from the two countries joining the project.
But the greatest achievement in 2023 was not only the recovery of abandoned olive trees, but the enthusiasm showed by individuals looking to participate in the project which has led to the contracting of the additional labour required to recover these unique trees.
In Andorra, in the province of Teruel, Apadrinaunolivo has already contracted 25 people and aims to contract a total of more than 250 people on a number of levels with temporary contracts by 2028. In Pego, in the region of Abrantes where the project started last summer, 3 people have already been contracted who are also ex-employees of the thermal power plant that closed down, and the objective is to create up to 27 jobs with different degrees of permanence.
One of these people is Joao Rijo, who is now developing the apadrinhaumaoliveira.org project in Portugal. "My connection with the olive tradition goes back a long way: My wife's family has olive trees and I know what it's like to pick olives and take them to the mill. "I have always lived in this area. I used to work at the Pego power station and olive trees always played a secondary role in my life" he recalls. "It has taken 32 years for the olive trees to now play a leading role in my life and to no longer be secondary." "After my time at the Pego power station, the innovative 'Apadrina un olivo' project has helped me to learn and reconnect with the land and everything that surrounds us, we now stand face-to-face with our natural wealth."
The aim of the collaboration between Endesa and Apadrinaunolivo is the recovery of 70,000 abandoned olive trees in the Iberian Peninsula, mainly in the Andorra area, located in the mining regions. Together with the recovery of the plant itself, there will be a series of additional measures to help stabilise the population in these areas. To this end, it will help with the development of the Oliete oil mill for the Andorra project and in the same way it will be done in Pego. Both projects will be collaborating with a local cannery to expand their production to include olive oil with the denomination of origin provided by the sponsor.
About Endesa
Endesa is a leading electricity company in Spain and the second largest in Portugal. In addition, it is the second largest gas operator in the Spanish market. It undertakes end-to-end business including the generation, distribution and retailing of electricity. It also offers, through Endesa X, value-added services aimed at the electrification of energy uses in homes, companies, industries and public administrations, including electric mobility, where it is one of the main operators of charging points in Spain. 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 networks through e-distribution, and Corporate Social Responsibility. The Endesa Foundation is also active in CSR. Our team totals around 9,260 employees. Endesa is part of Enel, Europe's largest electricity group.