- Last year, Endesa's renewable subsidiary, Enel Green Power España, connected 919 MW to the grid mainly from 16 new solar and 4 wind power plants, built in accordance with sustainability projects associated with each installation and developed by the local community right from the design phase.
- Endesa's new infrastructures in 2022 involved an investment of €852.3 million and created more than 3,000 jobs.
- This new capacity has also eliminated the need to purchase 2,197 million cubic metres of gas per year.
In 2022, Enel Green Power España (EGPE), Endesa's renewable subsidiary, built 2022 a total of 919 MW of new renewable capacity to supply the electricity distribution grid in Spain, mainly from 16 solar (567 MW) and 4 wind (306 MW) installations, while the rest is the result of improvements made to existing renewable facilities. This new renewable capacity is equivalent to the energy consumed by households in Castile-La Mancha.
These new renewable installations involved an investment of €852.3 million and generated more than 3,000 jobs during the construction phase, with priority given to the hiring of local labour. This new capacity has also eliminated the need to buy 2,197 million cubic metres of gas per year.
"Endesa built more than 600 MW of new renewable capacity in 2021, and closed 2022 with these 919 MW of new capacity. These are important steps to enable us to achieve our goal of the total decarbonisation of our energy mix by 2040", said Rafael González, Endesa's General Manager of Generation, who reminded us that "these projects have applied high safety standards during their construction and they will now create an ecosystem of local agents that will enable the creation of shared value with the surrounding area. With a commitment to projects such as agrivoltaics, beekeeping amongst the solar panels and livestock, we are promoting initiatives that promote efficient energy consumption in these municipalities and the implementation of measure to protect birdlife".
Renewable development and local communities
Endesa's new renewable plants are located in Castile-La Mancha, Extremadura, Aragón, Andalusia and the Balearic Islands, and the projects developed in all these communities combine the activity of the installations with the surrounding area, seeking maximum integration into the territory. The aim is to convert renewable development into opportunities for the future and fixing population in municipalities generally located in rural environments.
All this renewable development has been accompanied by a training plan that since 2018 has managed to train more than 2,850 people. Through its renewable subsidiary, Enel Green Power España, Endesa aims to continue to offer training courses in the coming years. Organising new training programmes aimed at the local population, training linked to our activity which is already an essential feature of the DNA of our projects: Training in Workplace Risk Prevention in industrial installations, which we organise as a result of the closures undertaken, training in the Operation and Maintenance of renewable installations and for the assembly of panels. Next year, training in the primary sector will also be included, as it is already part of the activity in our installations, with almost 3000 people already trained between 2018 and 2022 and more than 8000 people planned over the next two years.
Initiatives to make building sites sustainable, focussing on the project's building phase having a lower environmental impact, with measures that go beyond what we are obliged to do by the regulations: Installation of solar panels in the sheds on the site, water collection tanks, efficient lighting, use of electric vehicles. Many of these elements are later donated to the community once the work is finished.
A local social-economic development block, with initiatives that boost economic activity and local employment. The above-mentioned training, the hiring of local people by our contractors and the search for collaboration projects with local agents in the different primary, secondary and services sectors is designed to promote economic activity and employment in the area.
And finally, the axis of sustainable municipalities, with the implementation of energy efficiency and self-consumption measures, energy communities and electric mobility, to help these municipalities to also be sustainable in consumption, making them benchmark models for energy transition.
In all the plants, the material used during construction, including self-consumption panels, water tanks and defibrillators, has been donated to local communities.
In Castile-La Mancha, Endesa's renewable subsidiary, EGPE, has built 5 solar and 3 wind power installations, with a total capacity of 426.5 MW. These consist of the Minglanilla I and II solar plants between the towns of Minglanilla and Granja de Iniesta in Cuenca, and Calatrava I, Ninobe 3 and Ibereléctrica I in the municipality of Manzanares in the province of Ciudad Real. With regard to wind energy, Endesa has built the Campillo I, II and III wind farms located in Campillo de Altobuey, Enguídanos, Puebla del Salvador, Minglanilla, Castillejo de Iniesta and Iniesta. These wind farms will produce 452 gigawatt hours per year (GWh) and are now Endesa's highest in Spain, 170 metres high to optimise their operation.
More than 1,400 people were employed and €377 million euros invested in the construction of these installations Now that they are in operation, the development of innovative projects has begun, including the cultivation of saffron between solar panels in the Minglanilla plants, the construction of an insect hotel that aspires to be included in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest in Europe.
In Andalusia, Endesa's renewable subsidiary, EGPE, has put 2 solar installations into operation in the province of Seville. These are Sol de Casaquemada in Sanlúcar la Mayor and Esparragal in Guillena, with a total capacity of 100 MW and an investment of €81 million.
For the development of this new renewable capacity, a total of 400 people were employed with priority given to local labour. Furthermore, building all these projects was based on Enel Green Power's "Sustainable Construction Site" model, including the installation of photovoltaic solar panels to meet some of the energy requirements during construction work, measures to save water by installing tanks and rainwater collection systems and the use of defibrillators, all of which was then donated to the local community.
In Aragón Endesa's renewable subsidiary, EGPE, built a solar and a wind power installation, with a total capacity of 90 MW. These are the Tico II solar plant and the Tico Wind farm which employed more than 300 people during construction.
These plants were built applying the most innovative technology, including drones for surveying, smart tracking of turbine components in the wind farm, advanced digital platforms and software solutions to remotely monitor and support activities.
In Extremadura Endesa's renewable subsidiary, EGPE, built 5 solar installations, with a total capacity of almost 250 MW. These are the Agrippa, Alaudae and Gémina solar plants in the municipality of Lobón, Tierra de Badajoz in Badajoz and Torrecilla in Torrecillas de la Tiesa pending connection to the grid.
More than 1,000 people were employed and €175 million euros were invested in the construction of these installations Furthermore, in the construction of these projects, the latest technology was used and innovative systems applied that enabled the environmental impact during the execution of the work to be reduced. This includes the E-House used to house the electronic equipment for the solar plants commissioned in Lobón. This prefabricated installation reduced the use of materials by 60%.
In the Balearic Islands Endesa's renewable subsidiary, EGPE, built 3 solar installations, with a total capacity of almost 20 MW. These are the solar plants of Son Reus and Son Orlandis in Palma and Can Lloreta in the municipality of Alcudia.
More than 80 people were employed and €14 million euros were invested in the construction of these installations. These plants were built following the "Creating Shared Value" model which incorporates priorities and needs into its business strategy with the aim of improving economic and social conditions in the local environment in which it operates. The social and environmental actions to be developed feature the training of people for the purpose of improving their employability in a sector with great potential for growth in the area.
Data in Spain
Endesa's renewable division, Enel Green Power Spain, has 148 hydroelectric power plants, 105 wind farms, 45 solar plants and 1 biomass plant in Spain. This renewable capacity will increase in 2023, as Endesa, through its renewable subsidiary Enel Green Power España, continues to be committed to this technology for the energy generation of the future.
Through EGPE, Endesa currently manages 9,293 MW of installed renewable capacity in Spain, including the following: 4,668 MW of conventional hydraulic power; 2,882 MW of wind power, 1,664 MW of solar power, and 78 MW of mini-hydraulic power.
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 usage in homes, companies, industries and Public Administrations. It has also created a new line of business. Endesa X Way is fully dedicated 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-related matters. Our workforce numbers around 9,260 employees. Endesa is a division of Enel, the largest electricity group in Europe.