Spain’s Endesa Seeking Approval for the First Phase of 1.7 GW of Renewable Energy Deployment

Endesa, a leading company in the Spanish electricity sector and the second-biggest operator in the electricity market in Portugal, has applied to Aragon’s Department of Industry, Competitiveness, and Business Development to build a 50 MW solar PV plant on the site of the Andorra thermal power station, situated in Teruel province, Spain.

The construction of 50 MW solar PV plant is the initial step for the Future-e Plan introduced by Endesa, which is a part of its Fair Transition initiative. A total of USD 1550 million (1,427-million-euro) is funded as an investment for the emission-free model to develop 1,725 MW of renewable energy capacity as a replacement for the Andorra thermal power plant which is scheduled for shutdown and dismantlement after June 30, 2020.

The whole target is planned in three phases. All the stages are expected to be completed by 2026. The 50 MW solar power plant is the first of the many projects on the Future-e plan to replace thermal power plants with renewable power plants. This project will be constructed in the vicinity of the Andorra power plant.

For the first two phases, Endesa has connection points. In contrast, the third phase depends on the evacuation capacity of the Andorra power plant, which will be allocated by the Ministry for the Ecological Transition. To materialize this, the Fair Transition Agreement should be signed so that CNMC (Comisión Nacional de Los Mercados y la Competencia), the Spanish competition regulator, can approve the decommissioning of the existing power plant. This will allow the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge to take the required action.

To achieve a complete decarbonized energy system by 2050, Endesa has submitted a formal request to shut down the Andorra thermal power plant in Teruel, and the Compostilla plant, in León at the end of Q4, 2018.

This is the Endesa strategic plan, which coincides with the national energy goal announced by the Ministry for Ecological Transition. In the fourth quarter of 2019, it has also approached the government to decommission thermal power plants in Pontes (A Coruña) and Carboneras (Almería).

An action plan has submitted by Endesa called Future-e plan to minimize the impact caused by replacing its thermal power plants with renewable power plants. This plan is not only to replace the thermal power plant area with the renewable plant but also to promote the development of economic activities and creating jobs for the affected region people.

The goal of Endesa is to decarbonize its generation mix by 2050 completely. By the end of 2022, Endesa has estimated that it will reach 10.2 GW renewable installed capacity from 7.4 GW, which was determined by the end of 2019. The total estimated investment for the decarbonizing plan is about USD 4.1 billion (3.8 billion euros).

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