Being industrial and renewable: this is the roadmap that marks the future of Andorra

For forty years, the towers of the Andorra thermal power plant have defined not only the profile of its facilities, visible from a large part of the region, but also the lives of its workers and families.

Thomas Osborne
Thomas Osborne
17 December 2022 Saturday 23:39
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Being industrial and renewable: this is the roadmap that marks the future of Andorra

For forty years, the towers of the Andorra thermal power plant have defined not only the profile of its facilities, visible from a large part of the region, but also the lives of its workers and families. Its closure was a severe setback for a region with a recent past closely linked to coal and thermal energy, but also the hope of a new stage in which to go from carbon black to renewable green without giving up its industrial accent.

This is the great paradox that is resolved definitively, serving at the same time as an example for other municipalities that must face the same dilemma. Can a region given over to fossil black for decades resurface waving the industrial but renewable flag? Not only can, but must. Achieving it is what Enel Green Power España proposes, with its future plan for Andorra after the award of the tender called by the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge.

Endesa's renewable subsidiary has drawn up a roadmap that ratifies its link with a region whose history is linked to energy, but with a focus on renewables. It will do so with solar, wind, green hydrogen and storage energy projects, with a total installed capacity of more than 1,800 MW of new renewable capacity. To this end, Endesa will build 14 renewable projects with seven hybridizations, an approach so far unique in Spain that allows for greater efficiency in the facilities.

The development of two battery storage plants is added, the purpose of which is to make the most of renewable production, reducing energy loss and optimizing its use. Also the installation of an electrolyser that would make it possible to manage surplus renewable energy for the production of green hydrogen, the creation of an electrolyser manufacturing center and the installation of a synchronous compensator that will allow this renewable energy to be poured with greater quality and stability, favoring the proper functioning of the electricity transmission network.

Albalate del Arzobispo, Híjar, Samper de Calanda-Castelnou, Andorra, Calanda, Alcañiz, La Puebla de Híjar, Jatiel, and Alcorisa are the municipalities where the new plants will be located. A deployment that will mean the creation of more than 6,300 jobs, more than 370 of them direct permanent. “We have a unique, pioneering project that is beginning to become a reality, and that we have built in collaboration with town halls, companies and entities in the area. It is a joint trip in which many people are involved”, pointed out Endesa's General Director of Generation, Rafael González, in the presentation of the renewable project and its socio-economic support plan.

In total, the company will invest more than 1,500 million euros in a "real project that will continue to generate value in the area." An agenda that has been in development for three years, as indicated by the general director of Sustainability of Endesa, María Malaxechevarría: "Endesa's project in Andorra is accompanied by a socioeconomic plan that seeks the integration of the three productive sectors to diversify the economy local. We promote a plan that, supported by training, will allow us to make a fair and equitable transition without leaving anyone behind”.

One of the keys to the plan proposed by Endesa is based on the ambitious and diversified alliance with local companies, with which agreements have already been reached for the development of their manufacturing activity. One of the most notable collaborations is the case of Soltec, with whom Endesa has agreed to build a solar tracker factory. The new facility, which will use the warehouses and facilities of the old thermal power plant, will create around 40 permanent jobs.

Another of the associated companies is Pretersa, with whom Endesa has reached an agreement for the expansion of the precast concrete factory located in La Puebla de Híjar, which will generate another 80 jobs in the area. The circularity of existing industrial elements is another of the axes of the plan, with the construction of a second life center for wind turbines that will generate 32 permanent jobs, and a circular economy center for recycling and finding new uses for elements and renewable park equipment that reaches the end of its useful life, which will generate another 15 jobs.

Another of the associated companies is Pretersa, with whom Endesa has reached an agreement for the expansion of the precast concrete factory located in La Puebla de Híjar, which will generate another 80 jobs in the area. The circularity of existing industrial elements is another of the axes of the plan, with the construction of a second life center for wind turbines that will generate 32 permanent jobs, and a circular economy center for recycling and finding new uses for elements and renewable park equipment that reaches the end of its useful life, which will generate another 15 jobs.

Lastly, the recently failed project that won the contest called by the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge also contemplates the development of a chip processing plant for heating with biomass and the development of energy communities in different municipal locations, favoring their autonomy and energy efficiency. Additionally, Endesa undertakes to reach a total number of self-consumption beneficiaries of more than 3,000 beneficiaries.