- Through its renewable subsidiary Enel Green Power España, the company has started the construction of Dulcinea, a new solar plant in which the company will use the latest technology with regard to lasers, drones and security cameras.
- The plant that will be operational at the end of this year will enable the creation of more than 650 direct jobs and 70 indirect jobs, with preference given to contracting local labour.
- Endesa has two another solar plants in Carmona (Seville), Las Corchas and Los Naranjos, which have become a benchmark in Spain as a result of the development of initiatives including the first solar apiary, agrivoltaic cultivation and grazing as a natural means of clearing the land.
Through its renewables division Enel Green Power España (EGPE), Endesa has started construction work on Dulcinea, a new solar plant located in the municipal district of Carmona involving an investment of €65.3 million and which will have 95.17 MW of installed capacity.
Having prepared the land and completed the preliminary work of fencing off the enclosure that will house this renewable installation, Endesa's technical team has now started work on building what will be Endesa's sixth photovoltaic plant in the province of Seville.
In the construction, Endesa's renewable subsidiary, EGPE, plans to use the latest technology by applying systems for detecting worker in the vicinity of heavy machinery, laser scanners to complete topography of the work that is as accurate as possible, security detection cameras, and virtual reality goggles to monitor the work.
In addition to this technology, Endesa will also apply the Enel Green Power "Sustainable Building Site" model, including the installation of photovoltaic solar panels to meet some of the energy needs during construction, measures to save water by installing tanks and rainwater collection systems, as well as the use of electric vehicle charging points and efficient lighting. Once work has been completed, all this material will be donated to the municipality of Carmona for public use.
Local employment
Building this new solar plant and the infrastructures that will be undertaken in parallel, such as a substation and high voltage lines, it is estimated that 650 direct jobs and another 70 indirect jobs will be created, with preference given to contracting local labour as a result of training courses that the company has already completed in collaboration with the Town Council of Carmona and that have enabled 76 people in the area to be fully qualified in the construction, operation and maintenance of renewable plants.
At the end of the year, once it is operational, Endesa's new infrastructure will produce 197.36 GWh per year, equivalent to the annual energy consumption of 50,041 families, equivalent to 6 times the population of Carmona. This new renewable generation capacity will avoid the emission of 92,775 tons of CO2 per year into the atmosphere, equivalent to the emissions from almost 30,000 cars during the same period.
Environmental integration
But Endesa's renewable subsidiary, Enel Green Power España, has gone a step further in its projects by integrating renewable plants into the environments of the surrounding areas with the development of projects such as Endesa's successful solar apiary that is already operating at the Las Corchas solar plant in Carmona, where they are also cultivating aromatic plants under solar panels, so-called agrivoltaic activity, which favours the work of the bees installed in the plant itself. This collaboration between primary and industrial sectors also involves the plant being helped by local shepherds who undertake natural clearing of the area.
The company is developing the application of these initiatives in all its renewable plants in Andalusia, making it a benchmark in the sector.
Commitment to Andalusia
Endesa is committed to Andalusia for the development of new renewable capacity, specifically by Endesa's renewable subsidiary, EGPE, with 48 hydroelectric power plants, 13 wind farms, 1 biomass and 11 photovoltaic installations in the region, two of which came into operation in 2022 adding new renewable capacity to Andalusia's distribution networks.
With the new renewable projects planned for the region, this capacity will increase by 400% in the territory, where Endesa is continuing to process the development of new renewable projects with the philosophy not only of decarbonising the energy mix, but of doing so by integrating local communities and creating value wherever the installations are developed.
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 generation, distribution and marketing business. Through Endesa X it also offers value-added services aimed at the electrification of energy use in homes, companies, industries and Public Administrations. It has also created a new business line, Endesa X Way, which is fully dedicated to electric mobility, as well as being firmly committed to the United Nations SDGs, and strongly supports the development of renewable energies using all technologies (ultrafast, fast and semi-fast) 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. We have about 9,260 employees. Endesa is part of Enel, the largest electricity group in Europe.