- This is one of the eight renewable facilities launched last year in Extremadura by Endesa's renewable subsidiary, Enel Green Power Spain, which saw more than 2,300 people employed during the construction phase, 80% from Extremadura.
- The president of the regional government of Extremadura has witnessed Endesa's commitment to hybridising technology and the primary sector first-hand as part of projects such as agrivoltaics, grazing, bird protection and environmental measures.
The President of the regional government of Extremadura, Guillermo Fernández Vara, today visited the El Doblón solar plant, located between the municipalities of Mérida and Almendralejo, accompanied by Endesa's Chief Executive Officer, José Bogas. Joining them were the mayor of Almendralejo, José María Ramírez, the first deputy mayor of Mérida, Carmen Yáñez Quirós, the general manager of Generation at Endesa, Rafael González, and the general manager of Endesa in Andalusia, Extremadura, Ceuta and Melilla, Rafael Sánchez Durán.
The El Doblón solar plant is one of eight renewable plants that the company launched last year in the province, creating more than 2,300 jobs in the region. During the visit, the president of the regional government of Extremadura and Endesa's Chief Executive Officer had the opportunity to meet a number of these workers, native to the region, who were involved in the construction of the plant after taking one of the training courses organised by Endesa. These courses, imparted in coordination with the local town halls, meant that 80% of the people who participated in the construction of these facilities were from Extremadura, one of the company's commitments when developing its projects.
At the event, José Bogas emphasised that "this is an important day for Endesa, as we have the opportunity to explain and highlight the value of our actions in Extremadura, seeing how renewable electricity generation continues to promote electrification and how it does so with criteria of shared value with the surrounding area". To this end, Endesa's Chief Executive Officer highlighted that "all our projects are based on sustainable construction criteria, going beyond the requirements of environmental regulations; socio-economic development with training and local recruitment, with initiatives for the primary or tertiary sector; and the promotion of sustainable towns and cities, through energy efficiency and self-consumption measures". In the opinion of Bogas "it is about making progress in cooperation with municipalities and the regional government of Extremadura, which are setting the benchmark in Spain when it comes to speed, facilitating the procedures and permits to attract investment, and placing this region at the forefront of the energy transition".
Statements by Guillermo Fernández Vara
Coexistence of technology and the primary sector
During the visit, Endesa's general manager of Generation, Rafael González, presented the measures demonstrating commitment to the region and others focussing on the sustainability of projects with a view to ensuring technology can coexist with the primary sector. To this end, Endesa has a major ally at all of its solar plants in Extremadura: local shepherds who, thanks to their sheep, naturally clear the land, performing maintenance work that is critical to the operation of the facilities.
The aim of this measure is to cultivate different plant species between the solar panels, another of the measures to be implemented in El Doblón. As part of these actions, Endesa collaborates with experts from the CTAEX (Agri-food Technology Centre of Extremadura), who were present at today's visit and who have been tasked with exhibiting a number of products from Endesa's "solar garden", such as cauliflowers and peppers from the Casas de Don Pedro, Talarrubias and Logrosán plants located in Extremadura. This synergy between panels and crops makes it possible to develop an exhaustive study of how the shadows of the photovoltaic panels benefit the crops, with the application of crops is studied individually depending on the location and orography of each renewable installation.
However, these are not only the synergies with the primary sector. Endesa has also exhibited environmental initiatives being developed at its Extremadura facilities, such as the Casas de Don Pedro and Talarrubias plants, where nests and perching sites are being installed for birds of prey, songbirds and bat species for the purposes of biological pest control. This measure is now also being implemented at other solar plants such as Valdecaballeros, where the restoration of the pond habitat for the conservation of species including but not limited to amphibians and reptiles is also being studied. Furthermore, green corridors are being set up at all plants in operation to improve the habitat of steppe birds.
Endesa is collaborating with AMUS (Action for the Wild World) to help carry out activities to mark birds and protect nests. What the Regional Government of Extremadura, Endesa and AMUS are working on is a project to promote conservation measures for Montagu's harrier, a bird of prey that nests in the ground, which has led to a reduction in the number of specimens due to the cultivation of cereals.
Supervisors from AMUS present at today's visit have been tasked with bringing two specimens of red kite to the area, which were rescued and marked with sensors to learn more about their flight and migration habits. Fernandez Vara and Bogas were tasked with releasing these birds, which now criss-cross the skies of Extremadura.
El Doblón, Puerta Palmas and Veracruz solar plant
The El Doblón solar plant forms part of a complex of three facilities located between Mérida and Almendralejo (El Doblón, Puerta Palmas and Veracruz), where Endesa, through its renewable subsidiary Enel Green Power España, has invested 96 million euros directly employing approximately 1,100 people at the peak of the works last summer.
Endesa's goal was precisely to recruit mostly local, qualified workers. To this end, in 2021 it carried out two training courses on assembly of trackers and operation and maintenance of solar plants for 152 people, in coordination with the municipalities of Mérida and Almendralejo: the aim was to create quality employment that would allow attendees to continue developing professionally in the growing renewable sector.
The construction of all these projects is based on Enel Green Power's "Sustainable Construction Site" model, including the installation of photovoltaic solar panels to meet some of the energy needs during construction work, a recharging station for electric vehicles and defibrillators. Once all work has been completed, both the photovoltaic panels and the defibrillators will be donated to the municipalities for public use.
The three new plants, which come into operation at the end of 2021, have a capacity of approximately 50 MW each, and can supply the population of Mérida and Almendralejo for a year. Now that production has started, Endesa will begin to implement measures to safeguard the rich biodiversity in the area, for example, grazing to clear the land naturally, green screens and agrivoltaic and ecological corridors.
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-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, Europe’s largest electricity group.