- It will be one of the largest industrial self-consumption installations in Spain and the first to serve a mine.
- Financial promotion: €30 million will be invested to build the new 50 MW infrastructure, the first and only one with these characteristics in Spain.
- Environmental commitment: When it is implemented it will reduce atmospheric CO2 emissions by 40,000 tons, equivalent to the consumption of 173,000 oil barrels. It should be taken into account that electricity consumption represents 70% of the carbon footprint for a mining operation.
- Self-consumption: As well as reducing the environmental footprint, the 75,765 solar modules installed over a surface area of 234,810 m2 will meet 25% of the mine's energy requirements, with the resulting reduction in the electricity bill.
- The historical Riotinto mine is an open-cast copper mine with the latest technological innovations and which features all the safety and environmental sustainability concepts that are currently standard in 21st- century mining.
Endesa X and Atalaya Mining have signed an agreement to start building the largest self-consumption photovoltaic plant for a mining company in Spain. This 50 MW installation will be built in Minas de Riotinto, on property belonging to Atalaya Mining, and will be the first to supply clean energy to a mining operation, as part of their aim of becoming a producer of "green copper".
Enrique Delgado, Managing Director of Atalaya Mining and Davide Ciciliato, Managing Director of Endesa X were accompanied by Rafael Sánchez Durán, Managing Director of Endesa for Andalusia, Extremadura, Ceuta and Melilla, during the signing of the agreement. They all highlighted the importance of this agreement, which marks a milestone in our country. After signing the agreement, the signatories visited the plot on which the new facilities will be built, which will cover some 60 hectares of historic mining land.
Enrique Delgado, Managing Director of Atalaya Mining, stressed that "this agreement kicks off a very exciting project. Once again, we demonstrate to society that Andalusian mining is at the forefront of the industry and that Atalaya's commitment to sustainability is real". “
Moreover, Davide Ciciliato, Managing Director of Endesa X, stated that "this project is committed to take advantage of natural resources with a photovoltaic solar solution, in addition to ensuring energy independence, resulting in the optimisation and substantial savings in its consumption, helping Atalaya Mining minimise its environmental footprint. He also stressed that "this is a strategic project for both Endesa X and for the country, to develop new alternative sources of energy, and is key to promoting both national and European energy independence".
The Managing Director of Endesa for Andalusia, Extremadura, Ceuta and Melilla mentioned that "energy is a key factor for the mining activity, and is marked by the European Green Deal and the New Industrial Strategy. This self-consumption facility, a record in terms of size, has been implemented for the first time in an industrial process to improve its competitiveness and commitment to protect the environment. This project can help the Huelva pyrite belt find a way to guarantee the supply of native minerals, a priority feature of strategic safety for the European Union."
€30 million will be invested to build the infrastructure, which will have a high social component, since it will remain in service even after the end of mining life, creating jobs and generating revenues for the region over an open-ended period of time.
The 50 MW photovoltaic plant will have a transformer substation for the conversion of 132 to 30 kV and a connection line between this transformer substation and the client's substation. This will guarantee a fully-renewable and high-quality supply of electricity to the mining operations, catering to its power needs while providing green energy equivalent to the supply needs of a town of 14,500 inhabitants over a period of 12 months.
75,765 photovoltaic panels with a power rating of 650 and 655 Wp and state-of-the-art inverters will be installed. These will be mounted on a steel structure, designed according to the characteristics of the terrain to take advantage of solar radiation in the most efficient way. The solar farm will have a surface area of 60 hectares and its production will cover up to 25% of the mine's energy needs and reduce its electricity bill as a result.
This new infrastructure will reduce indirect atmospheric CO2 emissions by more than 40,000 tons, equivalent to the consumption of 19,448 traditional combustion-engine vehicles.
In fact, electricity consumption represents 70% of the carbon footprint of the mining operation, so this will bring a significant reduction in its environmental impact and make a huge contribution to the decarbonisation of this business sector.
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 Spain. 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. 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, Europe’s largest electricity group.
Endesa X is a business line of Endesa that offers services and solutions to accelerate innovation and drive energy transition while providing innovative solutions that support energy transition, turning the goals of decarbonisation and electrification into beneficial activities for cities, businesses and people in a constantly changing world.
Endesa X is the Spanish and Portuguese division of Enel X, a world leader in the field of advanced energy solutions, managing demand response services with a total capacity of 7.7 GW and 195 MW of installed storage capacity worldwide. In January 2022, it created a new global business line that is solely dedicated to electric mobility, managing around 245,000 public and private charging stations worldwide and promoting and developing projects and solutions for the dissemination of electric mobility across the countries in which the Enel Group operates.
About Atalaya
Atalaya Riotinto Minera, a subsidiary of Atalaya Mining, is the operator of the historic Riotinto mine, a new mining project that incorporates the latest technological innovations in the sector and which features all the concepts of safety and environmental sustainability, currently a standard in 21st-century mining.
Riotinto is an open-pit copper mine that produced more than 56,000 tons of copper concentrate during 2021. It has 197 million tons of copper ore reserves, and is constantly working on the identification of new resources to continue extending the life of operations, which currently stands at 11 years. The commissioning of the Riotinto Project required a huge industrial investment, including major environmental improvements and the creation of more than 1,100 direct and indirect jobs.