- A total of 1,300 people will benefit from this free Global Training Plan, which includes training over the next three years regarding the activity generated by renewable power plants.
- In attendance at the kick-off meeting for the Global Training Plan were Endesa's shareholders and the mayors of the region where the Fair Transition Project in Pego has been implemented.
- The initiative is linked to Endesa's project for the region where the Fair Transition Project in Pego has been implemented. In 2022, the company obtained a 224 MVA connection right to the Public Service Grid (RESP) for the installation of 365 MWp of solar power, 264 MW of wind power, with integrated storage of 168.6 MW and a 500 kW electrolyser for the generation of green hydrogen.
- This renewable development has been accompanied by a socio-economic plan aimed at generating employment and creating value in the region.
Yesterday, Endesa's General Manager in Portugal, Guillermo Soler, and the director of Endesa Generación Portugal, Pedro Almeida Fernandes, presented the Global Training Plan known as "Rural School for Sustainable Energy" to Endesa's shareholders and the mayors of the region where the Fair Transition Project in Pego has been rolled out. The meeting took place on 20 September at the Dr. Solano de Abreu Primary and Secondary School in Abrantes.
The Global Training Plan, which Endesa has been working on since March this year, has resulted in the creation of the Rural School for Sustainable Energy, which will deliver more than 5,000 hours of training over the next three years, related to the activities generated by renewable power plants. With an investment of one million euros, more than 1,300 people will benefit from the initiative, including local residents, unemployed people and women in the region.
The "Rural School for Sustainable Energy" will impart technical courses in renewable energies (construction and assembly of solar power plants and the operation and maintenance of renewable power plants). The initiative also includes training in primary sector activities, with a view to including agricultural, livestock and beekeeping activities between the panels of Endesa's renewable plants. It also includes courses in transversal skills such as management, administration and digital tools.
These initiatives will be particularly aimed at residents in the region where the Fair Transition Project in Pego has been implemented: unemployed people, former workers of the Pego thermal power plant and women. The courses have been professionally certified and will be imparted in cooperation with organisations/companies duly certified by regulatory authorities.
In the words of Ana Patrícia Carreto, Head of Creating Shared Value and Sustainability Projects at Endesa Generación Portugal, "the aim of this innovative training programme is to certify and educate workers, thus increasing employability in the region and establishing bonds of trust and strengthening the vision of Endesa in the local community. The Rural School for Sustainable Energy is one of the measures of Endesa's Shared Value Creation Plan (CSV), designed as part of the Fair Transition Project in Pego".
Rural School for Sustainable Energy: Training plan for 2023:
1.1. Training in renewable energies:
- Technical course on electrical and photovoltaic installations and self-consumption
- Course for solar panel assemblers
- Course on welding technologies and operations
1.2. Training in the primary sector:
- Course on the use of phytopharmaceutical products
- Course on organic farming
1.3. Training in management and technology
- Course for administrative assistants and digital tools
Endesa's Fair Transition Project:
- Following the closure of the Pego thermal power plant, Endesa won the resulting public tender and obtained a 224 MVA connection right to the Public Service Electricity Network (RESP) in 2022, for the installation of 365 MWp of solar power, 264 MW of wind power, with built-in storage of 168.6 MW and a 500 kW electrolyser for the production of green hydrogen.
- Located in the region where the Fair Transition Project in Pego has been rolled out, this is an economically sustainable project, which does not rely on external subsidies, and which will entail an investment by Endesa of 600 million euros.
- The success of Endesa's proposal can mainly be attributed to the social and economic development projects for the region, having made the commitment to creating 75 permanent jobs, a Global Training Plan known as the "Rural School for Sustainable Energy" and support for SMEs to set up their projects in the region.
- Endesa's project was conceived from the outset as a collaboration with the region where the Fair Transition Project in Pego is being rolled out and with the workers affected by the closure of the Pego coal-fired power plant. With this in mind, the proposal submitted by Endesa includes a Global Training Plan known as the "Rural School for Sustainable Energy" as well as the social and economic development of the region.
- In addition, the location of the Fair Transition Project in Pego will become a space for biodiversity, with technological projects straddling both the primary and secondary sectors; this commitment made by Endesa comes on the back of several years of work at other locations, demonstrating its feasibility.
- This approach, known as Creating Shared Value (CSV), which Endesa takes in all of its projects, aims to maximise these values for the local environment, through a series of initiatives that are developed as part of a participatory process with local agents. What makes Endesa's project in Abrantes unique is the involvement of local SMEs that will develop their business model in the region with specific projects.
About Endesa
Endesa is a leading 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 electricity 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. It is also the leading operator of charging stations in Spain through Endesa X Way, a business line dedicated entirely 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-distribution, 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.