EDP and Corporación Masaveu have taken a new and important step in the co-investment project agreed at the end of last year and scheduled to close in the coming weeks. Thus, both companies have decided to assign Duro Felguera with the conversion to natural gas and hydrogen of the Aboño thermal power plant’s Group 2. The transformation of the thermal power group will become reality by July 2025, which will anticipate the multinational electricity company’s goal of abandoning coal-powered production by the end of that year.

Aboño’s conversion to gas, announced in October with the facilities’ co-ownership (50%) of Corporación Masaveu, ensures the future of Asturias’ most important power plant, essential to the energy supply of the Asturian industry. The trust placed by EDP and Corporación Masaveu on Duro Felguera, a company strongly connected to Asturias, is due to its technical solvency and track record in the development of energy projects. This trust also highlights both associates' strong commitment to the Principality.

The project, which is currently being processed, will concentrate the fieldwork in 2025, when Group 2 stops for a general overhaul in March. The work will be done in several months’ time, so that when the group starts operating again in July, it can do so using natural gas and, further down the line, hydrogen, in addition to steel production gas, a characteristic that makes the plant a unique example of circular economy since its inception. This revalorization of gas from steel production avoids the emission of a million tons of CO2 to the atmosphere every year.

In the environmental area, the conversion will allow a reduction of virtually 100% of emissions of sulphur particles and oxides, as well as 80% of nitrogen oxides. Regarding CO2 emissions, the average reduction will be of 30%, varying according to the volume of steel production gas being revalorized at the plant.

The work will consist of the installation of new equipment and adaptations in the boiler, systems and infrastructures, always with a circular economy strategy in mind that allows to make the most of the existing equipment. The construction of a new gas pipeline will also be necessary for the natural gas supply of the facility.

The result of the project will be a group with a power of 494 MW, similar to the current one, as it will not require to supply equipment and systems associated with carbon, such as windmills, conveyor belts or ash handlers. It will also be more flexible, since start-ups can be made faster to meet demand.

EDP continues to work on the development of the Asturian green hydrogen valley in Aboño’s terrain. Having completed environmental processing, the company progresses, closing technical aspects of the project as well as agreements with suppliers and customers. Corporación Masaveu has the option to participate with a 10% in this project and others that EDP is carrying out in its thermal power plants.

With this project, EDP —in which the chief Asturian company Corporación Masaveu is the second biggest benchmark shareholder— advances towards the completion of its 2023-2026 Business Plan, which foresees the investment of 25 billion euros to lead energy transition. The company has been recognised as the world’s most sustainable electricity company on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index.