- Endesa, through its renewable subsidiary Enel Green Power España, is committed to cultivating different plant species among the solar panels. After undertaking a number of pilot schemes in the mainland, the practice was exported to its installations in the Balearic Islands.
- The solar plants of Endesa's renewable subsidiary in the Balearic Islands will also undertake other initiatives such as grazing indigenous sheep, beekeeping, carob cultivation, as well as research agreements with entities in the area to continue applying synergies between sectors.
The compatibility between the primary sector and renewable energies is a reality in Endesa's renewable installations. The company, through its renewable subsidiary Enel Green Power España (EGPE) collaborates with local shepherds in most of its renewable installations where sheep help with natural land clearance. This initiative goes hand-in-hand with agrivoltaic farming, which involves using the stretches of land that separate the rows of solar panels for planting different crops and installing solar apiaries, as well as the reforestation of the area around the renewable plants to encourage biodiversity.
These initiatives, which Endesa's renewable subsidiary (EGPE) has been developing in its renewable plants on the mainland, are now also being applied to the company's solar installations in the Balearic Islands where pioneering agreements have been made with different agents in the primary sector.
The company has signed agreements in the Balearic Islands with a total of 7 local entities that will enable the compatibility of land use under the "creating shared value" approach:
- Formatgeria Son Jover: This young company in Inca has been working since 1992 with indigenous breeds from the island and produces organic meat and signature cheeses from Mallorcan red sheep. As a result of a collaboration agreement signed with Endesa, they will have the opportunity to implement an innovative livestock farming technique in the Balearic Islands consisting of permanent rotating pastures with organic direct seeding agriculture, all within one of Endesa's new solar parks that will provide them with the indispensable tools for the sectorisation and security necessary to undertake this activity.
- Mel Caramel: Martí Mascaró, founder of Mel Caramel, is a Mallorcan beekeeper well known for his sustainable production of organic honeys throughout the island. This collaboration will enable the production of honey within the solar park to enjoy not only the quiet environment that characterises these installations, but also tools for measuring and monitoring its activity, just as in the Carmona solar plant in Seville, where since March 2021, 35 hives that can house up to 2.8 million bees have been installed in the Endesa photovoltaic plant. They now produce 500 kilos of honey free of pesticides and full of green energy. These bees are also participating in an environmental study being conducted by the El Rincón de la Abeja association.
- Carob: This Mallorcan entity was founded in 1976 and is a benchmark in the transformation of carobs for the manufacture and local and global distribution of high-quality industrial and edible locust bean gum. Their spirit of innovation and agricultural improvement has led them to collaborate with Endesa in the establishment of an experimental nursery for selected species of carob trees under the solar panels for the purpose of studying foreseeable benefits compared to growing them in conventional greenhouses.
- Terracor: This Mallorcan agricultural company is well known for its initiatives in the promotion of agricultural innovation and local products. This new challenge with Endesa consists of studying the cultivation of selected aromatic, fruit and vegetable plants within the environment of a solar park.
- Dalt Turó: This is a family business originally from Campos specialising in viticulture, agriculture and livestock. They have a flock of sheep grazing within the solar park, and they also make use of the new carob trees planted within the same estate.
- Mesquida Family: They have been involved in agricultural and livestock activity for the last 80 years and have discovered in the solar park a safe space for sheep to graze and a place where they can make use of the new carob tree orchard.
- IRFAP: The Balearic Island Institute of Agricultural Research and Training is participating in an agrovoltaic research project providing the scientific knowledge that will enable the assessment of the behaviour of certain crops within the environment of a photovoltaic park
The current president of the Balearic Islands, Francia Armengol, recently visited the solar plant of Sa Caseta located in the municipality of Llucmajor in Mallorca and where a number of these initiatives will be developed. Sheep have been grazing at this 22 MW solar plant since 2020 when it was put into operation. The plant has also introduced innovative measures such as the first rainwater collection and storage system that enables the efficiency of the plant to be increased in the months when there is greater production, taking advantage of the stored water in a way that considerably increases the yield and energy production by reducing the temperature and cleaning surface dust from solar modules.
Other uses for the use of collected and stored water include a drinking fountain system that has recently been put into operation to provide water for the flock that grazes on the estate, and which indirectly favours biodiversity in the surrounding area.
Endesa, through its renewable subsidiary EGPE, will continue working in this line of compatibility between sectors knowing full well that being an integral part of the environment and society where renewable plants are installed is the formula for the future and progress towards 100% green energy that is compatible with society at large.
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. 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-related matters. Our workforce numbers around 9,260 employees. Endesa is a division of Enel, Europe’s largest electricity group.