- This milestone is a step forward in the fair transition process that Endesa is promoting throughout Spain.
- Endesa will apply the Futur-e plan in Litoral, with the objective of making a proactive search for employment, the promotion of economic activity in the area, the education and training of the local population and sustainability initiatives within the municipality.
Endesa has disconnected the main generation equipment from the Litoral de Carboneras Thermal Power Plant in Almería after nearly four decades in operation. This brings to an end the life cycle of this iconic infrastructure that during its useful life has produced 183,628 gigawatt hours (GWh), equivalent to 4 and a half years' electricity consumption in Andalusia.
This milestone represents a step forward in the fair transition process that Endesa is promoting throughout Spain, where steps have already been taken on the path towards decarbonisation with the closure of the thermal power plants in Andorra (Teruel), Compostilla (León) and the processing of the As Pontes power station. As in the other plants, in Carboneras this fair transition process also aims to replace the generation capacity of this thermal power plant with clean and renewable technologies in the province, as well as to create wealth and employment in the area through the development of industrial projects on the land that housed the plant that meet social and environmental sustainability criteria.
"The Litoral Thermal Power Plant has always been an icon in this area. The activity and the technology were innovative over the years, here we developed unique projects and now we will continue to be pioneers with a closure in which new local employment will be generated, with the organisation of training courses and the development of initiatives that will enable the area to enjoy a new future", said Rafael Sánchez Durán, General Manager of Endesa in Andalusia, Extremadura, Ceuta and Melilla and who was one of those responsible for disconnecting the control room at the plant today.
He was there together with Juan Luis Redondo, the plant's manager, who, at this iconic time was accompanied by some of the plant's workers, commenting that "we have finish this stage, but a new phase is beginning in the development of this site with the application of the Futur-e plan, unique in Andalusia, which will enable people who worked here until now to have a future in the development of projects and renewable energies in the area".
Futur-e
With a commitment to make a Fair Energy Transition in Carboneras after the closure and dismantling of the Litoral Thermal Power Plant, Endesa launched the Futur-e Plan in 2020 for this installation for the purpose of helping to mitigate the impact that these closures may have on the local population through 4 axes: A proactive search for employment; promoting economic activity in the area; training in skills for the local population and sustainability initiatives within the municipality.
With these objectives in mind, Endesa launched, an international competition to search for projects that would enable economic and industrial development on the land that housed the plant and its port terminal once closure has been executed. This unique initiative for Andalusia is in response to Endesa's commitment to undertake fair energy transition that involves replacing Litoral's generation capacity with clean and renewable technologies, will involve the generation of wealth and employment in Carboneras through the development of industrial projects that meet social and environmental sustainability criteria.
Endesa has received 14 binding proposals submitted by 10 different promoters as part of an international tender for the Futur-e Plan, which addresses topics relating to the circular economy, aquaculture, biofuels, tourism and logistics. To analyse the suitability of the offers submitted, an assessment committee has been created that is currently assessing their suitability with regard to the requirements for the area, their business feasibility, and their capacity for generating employment and sustainability within the municipality. The assessment committee consists of the University of Almería, the Town Council of Carboneras, the Regional Government of Andalusia, the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge, the Port Authority of Almería and Endesa.
As well as launching an international competition to find an industrial project to reactivate Carboneras from an economic and labour point of view, Endesa is projecting about 1,500 megawatts of renewable energy in the province of Almeria, mainly from photovoltaic sources, to replace the 1,159 megawatts of power generated by the Litoral thermal power plant. This will involve about 1,200 million euros of investment and the creation of more than 2,000 equivalent jobs during construction and about 400 jobs in the operation and maintenance phase.
The Futur-e plan is constantly open to the flexible inclusion of new initiatives and is currently also designing training courses to promote local employment in the dismantling activities for the plant, for which specialised labour is required. These courses are being organised within the framework of a collaboration agreement between the Town Council of Carboneras, the Ministry of Employment, Training and Self-Employed Workers of the Regional Government of Andalusia and Endesa. They will be structured in three professional training programmes with the participation of 400 students who will be selected by the Andalusian Employment Service, an entity attached to the Ministry.
Dismantling
The plan for the closure and subsequent dismantling of the plant is expected to last 4-6 years and involve the creation of 82 direct jobs. The employment of the local workforce and the training of specialised personnel will be a prevailing factor. In this regard, Endesa has been working since 2020 on the re-employment of the 120 people that used to work in the plant, guaranteeing their continuity of work and offering them training courses so they can be re-employed in jobs which in most cases involve renewable development.
Those working for contracted companies will have the opportunity to attend training courses, both with regard to dismantling work and also to be able to be contracted in the new renewable installations that the company will develop in the area.
The dismantling and demolition of all the plant's buildings, installations and equipment will involve an investment of 60 million euros and will be undertaken under circular economy principles, with the aim of recovering more than 90% of the materials and ultimately obtaining a zero waste certificate.
Sustainability will be another of the axes in this phase, where the circular economy will not only be the central axis, but criteria with regard to the Creation of Shared Value will also be followed and these will enable long-term relationship to be established with local stakeholders, promoting an ethical culture that encourages the professional training of employees, the development of social environments (local contracting) and the sustainable use of natural resources.
Data with regard to the power station
The Litoral Thermal Power Plant was built within the framework of the Accelerated Plan for Coal-Fired Plants drawn up in 1979 to cover the need to increase electrical power as a result of economic development experienced in Spain. The infrastructure is located in 1,788,547 square metres in the municipality of Carboneras and consists of two generation groups generating a total of 1,159 megawatts of power. Each of these groups consists of essential equipment including a boiler, a turbine and an alternator.
Group 1, with a capacity of 577 megawatts, began commercial operation in 1985 and group 2, with a capacity of 582 megawatts, in 1997. During its useful life, the installation generated more than 180,000 GWh, that is, the energy consumption of Andalusia for 4 and a half years and became a benchmark when, in 2014, environmental improvements were made that put it at the forefront of this technology worldwide.
The plant has a Port Terminal, with access for maritime traffic in the Mediterranean and North Africa areas. Its activity began in 1985, after an investment of about 123 million euros for construction, for the purpose of unloading coal for the Litoral Thermal Power Plant.
In 2014, as a result of an agreement with the Port Authority of Almeria, investment was made to provide the Port Terminal with a system that enables ships of between 10,000 and
15,000 tons of capacity destined for other Enel group plants in the Mediterranean, which meant an increase in the fuel handling operations to be developed in the storage park.
These characteristics and its geographical location make it a unique facility for handling large draft ships coming from anywhere in the world. Since its construction, a total of 79,480,191 tons of solid bulk have been handled.
The Litoral Thermal Power Plant has also hosted innovative projects including a microalgae plant, the restoration of tips with native species and a battery storage project.
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 business from generation to marketing and through Endesa X also offers value-added services aimed at the decarbonisation of energy uses in homes, companies, industries and public administrations. Endesa is firmly committed to the United Nations sustainable development goals (SDGs) and therefore strongly supports the development of renewable energies through Enel Green Power España, the electrification of the economy and Corporate Social Responsibility. The Endesa Foundation is also active in CSR. Our workforce numbers around 9,600 employees. Endesa is a division of Enel, the largest electricity group in Europe.