The King presides over the commemoration of the centennial of La Malva | EDP España

Felipe VI visited the plant accompanied by the Minister of Energy, Tourism and Digital Agenda, Álvaro Nadal; the President of the Principality of Asturias, Javier Fernández; the president of the General Board of the Principality of Asturias, Pedro Sanjurjo; the Government delegate in the Principality of Asturias, Gabino de Lorenzo; the mayor of Somiedo, Belarmino Fernández; the president of the Executive Board of EDP, António Mexia; the president of EDP ispain, Manuel Menéndez; the CEO of EDP ispain, Miguel Stilwell d'Andrade; and EDP ispain Generation Director Miguel Mateos.

La Malva is the origin of EDP in Spain. It rises in the heart of the Natural Park of Somiedo and is one of the few power stations in the world located in a Biosphere Reserve, a declaration received by Unesco in the year 2000.

The natural resources offered by the region are suitable for energy production, so it was positioned, since its implementation in 1917, among the main industrial centers of the Iberian Peninsula. It is also the first hydroelectric power station in which a woman worked.

His Majesty toured the different areas of La Malva. His visit begun in the engine room, where the four generator groups of the plant are found, which add up to a power of 12 MW.

In its first hundred years, La Malva has generated more than 3 million megawatt hours. Its average annual production, 35,000 MWh, translates into the consumption of 10,000 homes.

In the control room, the King learned how the most modern technology is integrated in a century-old facility. Among other elements in the facility, it's from here that the operation of the four generator sets is automated so they can also be operated remotely.

The King also inaugurated the exhibition in the plant. Installed in the former homes of the director and employees, it consists of different rooms with panels that explain the arrival of electricity and its importance for the economic and social development of both Somiedo and Asturias, the project, construction and commissioning of La Malva, as well as the main milestones that have marked the history of EDP in Spain.

In one of the rooms of the exhibition, a video summarizes the history of La Malva, acted out by the company's own employees, with recreations of the earlytimes of the facility.

The area of ??the old workshop is another room of the exhibition that Felipe VI visited. Located in a remote area and of difficult access, La Malva had a workshop that allowed it to be self-sufficient in small repairs. In the exhibition are different machines and tools of the time, both from La Malva and from other facilities of the Group.

The route in the workshop ends in an area with a simulator of a control room, which allows you to know how to start and stop the generator sets of La Malva.

The visits to the central and the centennial exhibition are open to the public, within the Fundación EDP visits program. Applications are made here.

The commemoration of the centennial of La Malva has ended with the ignition of group 2. Felipe VI started this unit from the original control desk, which is kept in the engine room

The president of the Executive Board of EDP, António Mexia, thanked the visit of His Majesty the King, noting that "the celebration of these hundred years are a sign of the importance of energy in the development of society. The respectful use of natural resources also summarizes well how we like to do things and why this central is important within EDP. For this respectful use of resources, our group is a world leader in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index."

Mexia has also stated that "for decades, EDP has played a prominent role in the Iberian energy market, where regulatory stability for businesses such as smart energy networks or renewable sources is fundamental for its development. EDP wants to maintain its role in the Iberian market with equal opportunities and conditions. Our commitment to the Spanish market is overwhelming, with more than 10 billion euros of investment in just over a decade.

He concluded by stating that "almost a century later, other great ideas continue to help our group to be a world leader in renewable energies, based here. Not forgetting that it is also necessary to incorporate the stability of support to the commitment to renewable energy. "

A titanic and necessary project

The construction of La Malva is framed in a context in which Asturias demanded more electric energy, at the same time that a strong industrial growth was expected. The region was an ideal place to build a hydroelectric power station, both for the amount of water and for the existing slopes.

Policarpo Herrero and José Tartiere were the creators of the La Malva project, two Asturian visionaries who saw the great possibilities offered by hydroelectric power in the region. To achieve this, they hired the engineer Narciso Hernández Vaquero, with whom they had already worked in the first supply of drinking water for Oviedo.

The power plant was projected between 1912 and 1913, although the possibility of taking advantage of the rivers and lakes for electricity generation began to be studied in 1907.

The project of the plant involved bringing a pioneering technology, for its time, to the heart of Asturian nature, helping its sustainable development, always with the utmost respect for the preservation of the environment, an objective that today still remains a priority.

The construction of the facility faced different difficulties. At the beginning of the 20th century, Somiedo was an almost unexplored territory. The lack of roads, the rugged terrain and the hardness of winters were an unimaginable challenge to tackle in the project. Four years were planned for its construction.

Adding to these disadvantages another milestone came along, the First World War, which made difficult the delivery of different materials for the facility.

Despite these difficulties, the deadline was met. On September 9, 1917, the La Malva hydroelectric plant - or the light factory as it was also known - began to generate electricity, with the first of its four groups starting to operate.

Having verified the profitability of the project, on January 1, 1920, the Corporation "Hidroeléctrica del Cantábrico - Saltos de Agua de Somiedo" was formed , today EDP.

The raw material: Somiedo water

To generate electricity, La Malva is supplied from different sources. It takes the waters from the rivers Valle and Saliencia, as well as the Valle, Calabazosa and Cueva lakes, the Cerveriz lagoon and the streams of La Braña and Sousas. All connected, some naturally and others through channels of varying lengths, from 1.6 kilometers to more than 11 kilometers.

The building

The building at the center of La Malva consists of two distinct bodies, with the same length and width, but different heights. The lower one houses the four generator sets. The highest one is divided in four parts and three plants, destined to different facilities like cells of transformation, interior electrical substation and auxiliary equipment. In its origin, the director of the plant also lived in this area.

The structure of the building is raised on rock. The outer masonry walls follow the industrial architectural model of early twentieth-century England.

These first 100 years of operation of the La Malva hydroelectric plant reinforce EDP Group's commitment to the Iberian market and renewable energies, an activity in which it is one of the world leaders.

In addition to this facility, the company has ten other hydroelectric plants in Asturias and 50% of the Salime plant. Among them, it totals a power of 433 MW.

Its presence in Spain as a generator, distributor and marketer of electricity, gas and services, make the company one of the main energy operators in the country. Its activity generates more than 10,000 jobs.

Likewise, EDP maintains a strong commitment to Asturias. EDP is one of the main economic drivers of the region. It contributes more than 800 million to the Asturian GDP and allocates almost 500 million euros per year to purchases from suppliers.