The first denitrification plant of Spain, in the Thermal Power Plant of Aboño, has started working. EDP has just connected the new facility to the station’s group 2, after a brief stop in which all needed works were finished, in order to make it operational. “We are proud to have concluded the work of the first denitrification plant of Spain, meeting the calendar and the budget. Aboño will be once again a pioneer facility. In 2007, it was the first to launch a desulphurization plant and now it goes a step further with the denitrification plant”, underlined Miguel Stilwell d’Andrade, CEO of EDP Spain.

During the following weeks, EDP will be completing the testing stage and its fine-tunning, that will enable the plant to be fully operational by the end of October. In this time, the company will make adjustments in the teams and systems of the new installation, reducing the emission of nitrogen oxides since day one.

The operation of the Thermal Power Plant of Aboño with the denitrification plant will enable the generation of electric energy with carbon, reducing the nitrogen oxides’ emissions by up to 80%. In order to do so, EDP has invested around 90 million euros in this project – including the plant of similar characteristics that it is building in the station of Soto de Ribera -, after choosing the best possible technology available on the market, which contemplated the transposition of the European Union of Industrial Emissions Directive 2010/75 to Spain.

The denitrification plants reduce the nitrogen oxides emissions (NO_x), present in the gases coming from the carbon combustion in boilers. These gases go through a reactor, in which there is a transformation of nitrogen oxides into steam and nitrogen, harmless substances for the environment. This way, emissions can be reduced by up to 80 %.

The launching of the denitrification plant of Aboño entails one more step in the project that EDP approved in November 2014 for its plants in Soto de Ribera and Aboño, assigned to TSK and Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems.

These companies concluded the building of the denitrification plant at the beginning of August. More than 400 000 man-hours were invested in the construction, and more than 3 000 tons of metallic elements were needed to build the new facility, which is more than six times the weight of the Elogio del Horizonte of Gijón. 1 400 tons were put only on the structure, and another 1 000 on the catalytic reactor.

The biggest cranes of Asturias were used for this work, with a capacity of 70 tons, 110 meters of altitude and a ratio of 80 meters. Moreover, the denitrification plant of Aboño has more than 13 100 m² of thermic isolation.

Since the beginning of the constructions, more than 140 different companies, mostly Asturian, have taken part in the different tasks. 300 people have worked, apart from the team of the plant itself.

Furthermore, between April and June, Aboño went through an inspection, in which EDP invested more than 20 million euros. During this check-up, more than 1 000 people worked on the central. These numbers entail an important challenge for the organization, due to the technic, preventive and environmental complexities implied by the concurrence in time of such high number of people and tasks.

The denitrification plant is connected to the group 2 of the station, the most powerful unity of Group EDP in Europe – 543 MW –. Since its launching in September 1985, it has worked more than 230 000 hours, in which the energy production has surpassed the 107 000 GWh.

While Aboño begins its launching, the construction works continue in the station of Soto de Ribera, building a plant of similar characteristics, that will be finished in the first months of the following year. The works progress at the expected pace.

After this project, EDP will have had allocated more than 200 million euros in the last decade in environmental improvements of its generation plants in Asturias. These levels of investment, as well as its efficiency in the operation and maintenance of the generation groups, turns the plants of EDP into the most efficient of the country.

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

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.

EDP

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

In Spain, EDP is a model company in the energy market, present in the generation, distribution and commercialization of electric energy, natural gas and services, in which more than 3 million people already trust.

EDP is leader in gas in Cantabria, Murcia and the Basque Country, as well as in Asturias, where it is also model electric operator.