EDP and the Faculty of Chemistry of the University of Oviedo have organised a virtual visit to the chemical laboratory of the Soto de Ribera combined cycle thermal power plant. This is the first time that this training has taken place in a virtual environment due to the health crisis. For more than a decade, this visit has been carried out in person.

With this activity, EDP reinforces its commitment to training and to the Asturian institution, while at the same time ensuring that these virtual visits provide a more didactic element than traditional face-to-face visits.

In order for the university students to learn not only about the most appearance-centered part of the plant, but also about the internal parts of the company, they have seen samples of the operation of the equipment and have had access to a data platform in which the process diagrams were shown with real-time signal values, such as the power of the installation.

The meeting lasted an hour and a half and included images that simulated the same procedure of the usual visit, videos and a presentation. The session, which was led by Enrique González, from the plant's chemical laboratory, was attended by 11 students from the third year of the Industrial Chemical Engineering Degree.

The professor of the Department of Chemical Engineering and Environmental Technology of the University of Oviedo, Consuelo Pizarro, emphasized that "the visit is very interesting for the students, since the processes of obtaining energy are included in the syllabus of the subject of Industrial Chemistry, which they will take next year".

This activity reinforces the close relationship that EDP and the University of Oviedo have maintained for decades. Every year, more than 100 university students participate in the EDP Foundation's Martín González del Valle scholarship program, with which they complete their academic training at the energy company.

During 2019, a total of 153 visits were made to EDP's plants, in which more than 3.600 students from schools and universities participated. In 2020, before the pandemic, a total of 34 visits were made with more than 700 participants. The experience of this first virtual tour of an EDP power plant could be extended to other company facilities and faculties of the University of Oviedo.

This initiative is part of the ESG (environmental, social and good governance) criteria that govern all the company's activities, in accordance with its Strategic Plan for the period 2021-2025. In accordance with this plan, the company plans to make investments of 24.000 million euros, which will focus on three main lines of action: growth in renewable energies, flexibility and intelligence of the electricity distribution networks, and a commitment to designing and offering the most innovative solutions to its customers. This ambitious plan contributes to EDP's goal of being 100% green by 2030.