Endesa connects a 51 MW wind farm to the grid in Spain's Cuenca province

•  The 51 MW renewable plant, located in Motilla del Palancar will generate more than 144 GWh per year and 57 million euro has been invested into it.
• As part of Endesa's Plan for Social Value Creation (in Spanish, CSV), which is a fundamental part of this park's construction, actions have been proposed to improve the city's energy efficiency and promote employment opportunities within the region with training courses on renewable technology.

Endesa, through its renewable energy division Enel Green Power Spain, has connected a 51 MW wind farm to the grid, located in Allueva, Anadón and Fonfría in Cuenca province. The investment associated with this project is 57 million euros and the facility will produce 144 GWh per year, preventing atmospheric emissions of approximately 95,000 tons of CO_2.                    

This park, with 17 x 3MW wind turbines, is been based on Enel Green Power's "Sustainable Construction Site" model, which includes the installation of photovoltaic solar panels on each site to cover part of its energy needs, waste separation and use of water storage tanks. Once construction has been completed, the photovoltaic panels as well as the water-saving equipment will be donated to the towns in which the projects are located for public use.

Various innovative tools and techniques have been used in the construction of this park, including drones for surveying, intelligent tracking of turbine components, advanced digital platforms and software solutions to remotely monitor and support the plant's different activities and commissioning. These solutions have enabled faster, more accurate and more reliable data collection in various activities, which has improved the overall construction quality and facilitated communications between the construction site as the remote teams.

All these renewable energy construction plans include the corresponding Shared Value Creation Plans (in Spanish, CSV)). CSV plans are designed in collaboration with environmental agents and their ultimate aim is to maximise the projects' positive social and economic impact on the community. These CSV plans prioritise, among other actions, local labour inclusion, as well as locally sourced catering services and employee accommodation.

In the specific case of Motilla del Palancar, the actions considered within the Endesa CSV Plan for this municipality, designed in collaboration with local authorities to establish priority actions, include:

• Photovoltaic provision 3.2 kW (solar panels, inverter, batteries, protection elements and auxiliary components), which will be located at the municipal scale facility.
• Replacement of 100 public street lights with LED bulbs on some streets in the town.
• Efficient lighting for the soccer field, with installation of LED projectors on the four light columns on the field.

The city council has prioritised hiring local companies to implement these projects, which will result in significant cost savings on the city's electricity bill by improving energy efficiency.

These CSV actions also include promoting employment opportunities for local inhabitants in the region, including a 90-hour course in renewable plant maintenance and operation, in which 17 people participated.

This renewable capacity is being constructed within Endesa's strategy towards fully renewable energy in its generation mix by 2050. According to the company's latest strategic plan, the next milestone is to reach 10.2 GW of installed renewable capacity by 2022, compared to 7.4 GW at the end of 2019, with a total investment of around 3.8 billion euros.

Through EGPE, Endesa currently manages more than 7,507 MW of renewable capacity in Spain. Of this figure, 4,711 MW comes from conventional hydraulic generation; and the rest, 2,796 MW, comes from wind (2,362 MW), solar (352 MW), mini-hydro (79 MW) and other renewable sources (3 MW).

Part of the Enel Group, Enel Green Power is dedicated to renewable energy development and operation worldwide, with a presence in Europe, the Americas, Asia, Africa and Oceania. Enel Green Power is a global leader in the green energy sector with more than 46 GW managed capacity in a generation mix that includes wind, solar, geothermal and hydropower and is at the forefront of integrating innovative technologies into renewable energy plants.