- The El Palmar thermal power plant and one of the distribution centres opened their doors to impart electrical risk training to a dozen emergency services volunteers.
The island of La Gomera does not yet have an official fire brigade, although it does have a group of volunteers who, with a big dose of selflessness, generosity and social conscience, offer these services on a daily basis. This is the same engine that drives Civil Protection volunteers on the island in the Canaries. These two teams carry out multiple emergency and rescue interventions each year and their merits continue to increase.
Recently, the volunteers who form part of the Fire and Civil Protection service in La Gomera sought to improve their training of how to face possible emergencies involving electrical risk and to this end they travelled to the facilities of the El Palmar thermal power plant, located in San Sebastián de La Gomera. They also visited an underground transformation centre, having been invited by the Island Water Council. As part of these visits, they received explanations first-hand from experienced staff at Endesa's Generation and Distribution areas, who advised the team of volunteers on how to act in the event of an electrical incident that requires the response of emergency teams when the scenario involves a thermal power plant or an underground centre constructed for the treatment and distribution of energy.
A dozen firefighting and civil protection volunteers from La Gomera participated in the "Responding to emergencies with an electrical risk" course, imparted by Professor Amado Guerra Trenzado and organised at the request of the Department for Security and Emergencies at the Government of the Canary Islands, discovering all about the ins and outs of a thermal power plant as part of a tour of the facilities in El Palmar.
The head of the thermal power plant, Carlos Escuela, added that "this is a very cohesive group of volunteers and as part of their visit to the plant, they demonstrated maximum interest in learning about the operation of a thermal power plant and everything they must take into account should they be required to respond as an emergency team to an electrical risk. These are young volunteers with great potential". Explanations were also offered by Raúl Negrín and Rodolfo García, two technicians with extensive experience at the La Gomera plant.
The volunteers started the course by learning how to correctly wear specific elements designed to safeguard their physical integrity. For example, they found out that it is a matter of practice and skill to ensure that the protective gloves used for high and medium voltage work are secured correctly.
The plant's firefighting system was subject to a variety of tests. One of these involved activating the cooling of one of the fuel storage tanks, a system used at the plants in case of a fire in any of the tanks. As a result, firefighters learned 'in situ' how to prevent the fire from spreading to the nearby tanks and creating a barrier against a possible accident. Another of the moments that aroused most interest among attendees was the security system activated during discharge operations, the process and the technology used.
The treatment of waste, the environmental care provisions at the El Palmar thermal power plant, which boasts several international certifications, including ISO 14,000, the control room, the fuel storage park, the space occupied by the batteries, the fire pump room and the contractor area, were just a few of the places toured by the emergency group during their training tour of Endesa's thermal power plant in La Gomera.
After hearing about the emergency plan in place at the El Palmar plant, volunteers continued their electrical risk training finding out more about the storage location of Endesa's material, through its subsidiary, E-distribución, in La Gomera. On this occasion, the technician responsible for the Distribution area, Rafael García, was tasked with familiarising the group with all the elements that can be found along the 85 kilometres of the island's electricity network, how they are used and how to operate them in case of an electrical incident.
Then it was time for one of the most anticipated moments for the team of volunteers. Deploying the tripod, harnesses and the full range of security measures to access one of the underground transformation centres, owned by the Island Water Council and handed over for the purpose of the training session. Once inside, they found out all about the elements associated with the distribution of energy, assessing the risk entailed in case of fire and simulating a rescue plan for workers trapped in these underground facilities.
Rafael García explained "the importance of having emergency operators with specialist training in electrical incidents on the island. So, the training of these volunteers in electrical risk topics means we can advance with the safety plan of our work as part of the different interventions we perform on the island's electricity grid".
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.