In the energy transition we grow together with our suppliers

At Endesa we have launched a comprehensive plan to strengthen our supplier base in Spain. Our commitment to decarbonisation and the investments foreseen in our strategic plan are a challenge in which the companies that collaborate with us are key to be able to successfully address all the projects that we have ahead of us.

What is this plan all about? The first step has been to identify a group composed of around 500 SMEs and large companies that already collaborate with us in different areas of the company in Spain (Generation, Distribution, Marketing and Endesa X). The objective is to accompany these companies, which represent 25% of all those that are qualified to work with Endesa, to help improve their economic competitiveness, commit to the environmental sustainability of their operations and strengthen their financial position.

With this promotion plan we want to facilitate our suppliers who can accompany us in the energy transition process from coal to renewable energy sources and who can also respond to tenders of significantly higher levels than in recent years, derived from the 25% increase in investments contemplated in the  2021-2023 Strategic Plan to 7.9 billion.

"The investment plan that we have presented for the coming years represents an exponential increase over the investment we have been making," explains Ignacio Mateo, General Purchasing Director of Endesa. "That is why we need our supplier base to be solid, to accompany us and be our extension in the basic principles that we want to promote with this plan: sustainable development, digitalisation and a reinforcement of infrastructures that allow us to accompany the energy transition whilst always complying with rigorous safety standards in the provision of any type of service to Endesa."

Our forecast for 2030 is to invest 25 billion, of which 40% would be allocated to the development of renewable energies and another 40% to distribution grids. These investments are an opportunity to grow together with all our collaborating companies, as Mateo points out: "We have a number of identified suppliers that are closely related to the activities towards which the investment plan is oriented, but we want all suppliers to have the opportunity to participate in this development plan, so they will all be involved in the different phases of development of the project."

Elecnor: an example of growth and improvement in sustainability

Committing to new projects that are more ambitious or from different areas to those they had traditionally worked on is a challenge for our collaborating companies. That is why one of the objectives of the development plan is "to reduce the uncertainties that may arise and guide them throughout the process, in order to include new suppliers and grow current suppliers," explained by Josep María Sayols Lara, Head of Infrastructure and Grid Purchasing at Endesa.

One of the current suppliers, who are accompanying us in this process of promoting the energy transition, is Elecnor. With more than 60 years of continuous growth, this company has become a reference group in the infrastructure, renewable energies and new technologies sectors and has been working hand in hand with Endesa for the last 40 years.

This experience and the solvency demonstrated over so many years of collaboration has led them to take on a new challenge: Participate in the construction of five photovoltaic plants of our renewable energies subsidiary, Enel Green Power España, in Extremadura, a large-scale project that is part of our renewable energy development plan throughout the country.

To tackle projects as ambitious as this, Elecnor has the support we offer in three areas: business, sustainability and safety. "We are growing with you, especially in terms of sustainability and safety. At Elecnor we are flexible and we adapt to each client, and at Endesa you help us to stay on top of things because of what you demand," says Jacinto Gómez Garzón, electricity manager of Elecnor.

Elecnor is a company very aligned with and aware of its environment, but thanks to the sustainability compliance  demanded by Endesa, they have been able to improve in aspects such as the commitment to environmentally friendly cars in construction, the training of its employees, and contracts for people at risk of social exclusion. "In the end, Endesa's positive demands result in the sustainability or reduction of CO2. At the end of the day, we are all here to try and live as well as possible in the environment we have," says Gómez Garzón.

As for the business opportunities  for suppliers such as Elecnor, Gómez Garzón assures that there are "many" and that "the fact of always being by Endesa's side, and that Elecnor is a company with so much capacity and diversification, gives many possibilities within the decarbonisation process."

However, if Elecnor has one concern, it is in finding skilled and trained labour. "We have grown by 3,000 people from 2019 to 2020, but we are concerned about the time needed to grow the workforce. Qualified professionals for the construction of renewable energies are in short supply and there is a lot of demand. A period of adaptation and learning is needed," he adds.

Also, according to Elecnor's electricity manager, the comprehensive plan to boost suppliers is a very positive initiative. "Elecnor, for example, has helped to accelerate the digitisation plan and, with this, we are also helping Endesa to grow in the development of renewable energies," he concludes.

The transition of former coal suppliers

We are already accompanying our suppliers in the energy transition process, which is a success among coal companies. With the closure of the first plants during the decarbonisation process, started in 2020, we have carried out a first exercise with a group of 25 suppliers who worked for these coal-fired power plants in order to redirect their collaboration to other business areas.

This first project has been a success, since 24 of the 25 suppliers have participated in tenders launched by the areas of Infrastructures and Distribution Grids, Endesa X, Nuclear, generation in combined cycle (gas) plants, Enel Green Power España, and in facility maintenance tasks. The result has been the award of contracts for 43.4 million euros in total, when the turnover generated by coal thermal production was 29 million.

"We are satisfied with the result of the intense process of reorienting the suppliers that we identified as the most relevant in 2019," says Ricardo García, Director of Generation Purchasing at Endesa. "We focused on those who were most staff-intensive, which is consistent with our philosophy of leaving no one behind in our Fair Transition process. “

In addition to this reorientation of companies from the coal business to the rest of the business areas, we are also refocusing suppliers towards decommissioning tasks, as well as offering training to their staff to get involved in this task and in the construction of renewable energy plants that will be located in the areas nearby the plants that cease their activity.