The president of EDP Spain, Manuel Menéndez, the managing director of EDP Spain, Miguel Stilwell d’Andrade, and the corporate and commercial general director of EDP Spain, Javier Sáenz de Jubera, have met with the president of the Government of the Principality of Asturias, Javier Fernández, to inform him about the progress in the building of the denitrification plants in Aboño and Soto de Ribera. EDP will make a total investment of 100 million euros.

The meeting, which took place at the Presidency offices, helped to highlight that EDP’s denitrification plants are a strategic project for Asturias. It will boost the economy, employment and allow the enlargement of the lifespan of both coal thermal power plants until unless December 2035.

The denitrification plants reduce the emissions of nitrogen oxides. In the case of the technology that EDP is going to implement – selective catalytic reduction –, they are reduced in up to 80%. This way the company goes further than what the European Union’s Industrial Emissions guidelines 2010/75 establish, as the emissions will be far below the limit established by those guidelines.

The building of both plants is in process, in group 2 in Aboño as well as in group 3 in Soto de Ribera. The denitrification plant in Aboño 2 will be the first process of this type to be placed in service of the Spanish thermal generation park. It will be operative at the end of 2016.

During the first months of this year, different geotechnical studies were conducted in the area where the reactor will be installed, which is the main element of the denitrification plant. Nowadays, the projects are centred in the adequation and adaptation of this area, as well as in the installation of unloading, storage and preparation of the ammonia aqueous solution. This compound is the reagent that, when applied to nitrogen oxides, will allow the reduction of emissions.

Aboño is one of the largest power plants in Spain, as well as one of the most efficient. It uses coal to generate electricity and revalorizes steel gases from Arcelor Mittal’s steelworks, making it a unique plant in Spain. The energy revalorization of these gases avoids the annual emission of one million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

As for the denitrification plant of group 3 in Soto de Ribera, the company is currently carrying out different studies that will prepare the ground for the subsequent installation of the plant. The start-up is scheduled for 2017, six months after the plant in Aboño.

The design, installation and commissioning of both plants have been awarded to the Asturian company TSK, in consortium with a technological partner of reference in this field, Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems. The design, in addition to complying with the technical and legal requirements contemplated in the corresponding standards and codes, has been carried out with the aim of maximizing the safety of the people who will operate the plant and the availability of its equipment and systems. All this combined with maximum respect for the environment.

EDP’s denitrification project represents an important economic injection for the Principality of Asturias, as 200 jobs are created. To this must be added the 400 people who work daily at the plants, a figure that rises to 1,400 workers when scheduled shutdowns are carried out.

After this project, EDP will have invested more than 200 million euros in the last decade in environmental improvements of their generation plants in Asturias. This investment level, as well as operational efficiency and group maintenance, make EDP’s plants the most efficient ones in the country.

The commitment of the company with this project also reinforces its commitment with coal thermal generation, inside a mix of sustainable and efficient generation. The company buys all the coal that HUNOSA puts in the market each year (650,000 tons), which implies an expense higher than 17 million euros.

EDP is the referent company in the Asturian energy sector, with a significant impact on the regional economy. The company is responsible for 88% of the supplies, as well as for 91% of the total electricity demand. Likewise, it is also the referent operator in natural gas.

The company employs directly more than 1,000 people, and it creates indirectly other 4,000 jobs. Moreover, it contributes with 538.8 million euros to the GDP and allocates 236.9 million euros to purchases from Asturian providers. All of these figures, combined with the continuous investments, show EDP’s commitment with Asturias.

EDP

EDP is an international energy group, leader in value creation, innovation and sustainability. It is part of the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes (World and STOXX) and is also world leader in renewable energy.

In Spain, EDP is a referent company in the energy market, present in the generation, distribution and commercialization of electric energy and gas, with a portfolio of more than two million customers all over the country.

EDP is leader in gas in Cantabria and the Basque Country, as well as in Asturias, where it is also the referent electricity operator.