The construction of the first denitrification plant to be launched in Spain, the Thermal Power Plant of Aboño, is already finished. More than 410 000 man-hours have been needed for the construction of this first stage of the project that the company EDP approved in November 2014 for its stations in Soto and Aboño.

The partnership formed by TSK-Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systms, assigned with the construction, will now begin all the works regarding logistic, in order to enable the plant to be fully operational by the end of October. At the same time, the works of a similar plant in the Group 3 of the Thermal power Plant of Soto de Ribera are developing at the expected pace, and it will be concluded in the first months of the following year.

The managers of EDP and of TSK-MHPS celebrated, together with the people working on the new station, the ending of the civil and mechanic building, with a modest act in which there were words of acknowledgment for the good performance of the work that, despite its complexity and the high number of people involved in the construction, had ended without grave accidents.

The launching of these plants will make the stations work with the best technology available and will extend its lifespan, at least, until December 2030.

Since the beginning of the works, more than 140 different companies, mostly Asturian, have taken part in some of the tasks. Currently, almost 300 people, apart from the team of the station itself, are working on the project.

In this months of work, more than 400 000 man-hours have been invested, and more than 3 000 tons of elements have been needed to build the new plant.

1 400 tons were put only in the metallic structure, and other 1 000 in the catalytic reactor.

In this work, the largest cranes of Asturias were used, with a capacity of 70 tons, a height of 110 meters, and a ratio of 80 meters.

Moreover, the denitrification plant of Aboño has more than 13 100 m² of thermic isolation.

EDP has carried out an investment of around 90 million euros in the construction of these plants, after choosing to use for them the best technology available, that contemplates the transposition of the European Union Environmental Emissions Directive 2010/75 to Spain.

After this project, EDP will have had invested more than 200 million euros in the last decade for the environmental improvement of its generation plants in Asturias. This level of investment, as well as its efficiency in the operation and maintenance of the generation groups, makes EDP’s plants the most efficient of the country.

The construction of these two denitrification plants implies an important economic boost for the Principality of Asturias.

The project for Aboño 2 began in November 2014, although the civil work in the area of Aboño was first visible in January 2016.

Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems is a global model company in construction and operation of denitrification plants, while TSK is one of the Asturian companies with the largest projection and international relevance from its headquarters in the Scientific and Technological Park of Gijón.

EDP, model company in the Asturian energy sector, employs directly more than 1 000 people in Asturias. This number rises to almost 4 000 when taking into account indirect employments. This new investment is a sign of commitment with employment and with the autonomic community.