We create shared value in the Canary Islands

The artists taking part in the 'Art with Energy' project in Puerto del Rosario (Fuerteventura) were given the opportunity to capture their favourite form of artistic expression, painting, on a large-scale canvas. The initiative aims to decorate with murals the exterior walls of several company facilities, such as at the Las Salinas power station, helping to visually incorporate the power facilities into the urban landscape.

Our involvement in the initiative came as part of the Creating Shared Value (CSV) projects, conceived to generate maximum value for the communities living in the vicinity of our operations.

The CSV projects were created by the Sustainability Division, seeking primarily to instil sustainability into our daily business operations and to create shared value by taking action that aligns the company's interests with the priorities of local communities.

CSV project initiatives in the Canary Islands

We have also partnered on other social programmes in the Canary Islands aimed at the local communities living in the vicinity of our assets. These enjoyed a successful 2017 and were warmly welcomed in the municipalities where they were run.

There were particularly successful projects run at the Canary Island power stations of Salinas, Candelaria and Punta Grande, where the first CSV initiatives, which are still ongoing, have already had a telling effect. 

• Employability programmes

In addition to the 'Art with Energy' project, we also launched our 'Get active; Get employed' programme in Puerto del Rosario, as well as the 'Candelaria Youth Training' programme in Candelaria (Tenerife), as part of which we signed an agreement with the Candelaria City Council, the Spanish Red Cross and the Puerto del Rosario City Council, aimed at driving the social and labour integration of local residents by combining activities to foster the development of professional and social skills. The former project recorded a labour market integration rate of 70% and the latter 53%.

Meanwhile, the Endesa Foundation and the Tenerife Diocese branch of Caritas ran the seventh edition of a course entitled 'Auxiliary Operations for the Assembly of Electrotechnical and Telecommunications Installations in Buildings', aimed at unemployed individuals who face difficulties joining the labour market and are in positions of vulnerability, seeking to enhance their employment prospects while providing specific electricity sector training.    

• Energy Volunteering

In partnership with Endesa Foundation and the Ecology and Development Foundation (ECODES), we have been working on the 'Energy Volunteering' programme since 2015. The main objective is to help eradicate poverty and energy vulnerability for households via three initiatives:

1. Using workshops to teach households about efficient energy use and how to optimise their electricity bills.

2. Customised guidance to optimise contracts and manage procedures.

3. Application of savings and security measures in homes, which will mean improvements in electrical installations to prevent risk situations due to their deterioration.

In February 2018 a new partnership agreement was signed between Endesa, the Endesa Foundation, the Red Cross and ECODES, expanding the scope of the volunteering project to support efforts to combat energy poverty.

A total of 49 families in the Canary Islands received support, with an average potential financial saving of €137 annually per household.

In the Canary Islands, where the local NGO Provivenda was also involved in the project, the towns of Puerto del Rosario (Fuerteventura) and Candelaria (Tenerife) were selected to benefit from the programme, together with other Spanish towns including Zaragoza, Barcelona and Seville.

• Efficient lighting

As part of our CSV initiatives to support the social and economic development of the communities where we operate, an agreement was signed with the Teguise City Council (Canary Islands) to replace all the storm-damaged lampposts on the Las Caletas seafront promenade with 17 energy-efficient lights, installing better lighting in the area and using energy-efficient technology.

• Open Plant Initiatives

A further set of initiatives was run to improve the public understanding of the electricity system and familiarise the community with the power stations operating in their vicinity, which are often something of a mystery to locals.

On the educational front, Endesa Educa taught a total of 3890 Canary Island students from the municipalities of Candelaria, Puerto del Rosario and Lanzarote (Arrecife and Teguise) about the world of energy, as part of the latest edition of the Play Energy contest, focused on energy education and fostering a new social understanding based on energy saving and sustainability. The contest asks students to design a model sustainable city, using their learning to develop a sustainable proposal for urban energy use.

As part of efforts to familiarise the local community with the power plant, as well as to mark the 50th anniversary of the Candelaria power station, a brand new educational resource was unveiled: a video mapping installation, projecting the Candelaria power system onto a model and depicting how the plant supplies the energy required to power the region's essential services. The aim is to raise awareness of the important role played by the power plant in the daily lives of the local community.

The Canary Islands region is among the first in Spain to benefit from the CSV projects. We hope to extend this success to the remaining regions, because creating shared value means helping to tackle social problems and generate benefits for the community, as well as creating fresh business opportunities for the company.