EDP has finished the inspection of the group 2 of Aboño’s thermal power plant. The work, carried out between September and October, has entailed an investment of 14.7 million euros. With this investment effort, the company expands the lifespan of this strategic installation and ensures its functioning in the best conditions of efficiency and availability to attend the demand.

During this scheduled stop, EDP has carried out the inspection and reshaping of more than 10 000 equipment and systems that constitute the installation, while implementing environmental and performance improvements, and substituting the needed elements for its optimal functioning.

The main inspected equipment are, among others, the alternator, the boiler and the desulphurization and denitration plants, where the company has performed complete inspections and introduced improvements.

Among the environmental projects, the one that the company has developed in the electrofilters stands out, which entails an improvement of its efficiency by 25%. This equipment is essential in the plant and reduces the emission of particles, as it enables to retain them in its interior.

This project, that goes beyond the demanding environmental regulation and has implied 2 million euros of investment, consisted of the implementation of new mechanic elements, the change in the controller’s system and its digitalization, as it is now managed entirely from the Group 2 control room systems.

This inspection has had a significant impact in employment. More than 900 people of more than 80 companies, mainly Asturians, have been working in the different tasks. The more than 200 employments generated by the company itself must also be added up to this number. In total, more than 150 000 man-hours of work have been achieved.

This number means an important challenge for the organization because of the technical, preventive and environmental complexities that implies the concurrence in time of a high number of tasks and people.

Moreover, and because of the current situation of the health crisis, the installation has a detailed and complete protocol of performance to ensure the health and security of people, that has extended to employees of the enterprises that have taken part in the inspection. The measures include the performance of PCR tests on all persons, the mandatory use of masks, protective goggles and a daily disposable cover, as well as the taking of body temperature at different times of the day.

The last inspection of this type in Aboño 2 took place in 2016, with an investment of more than 12 million euros. Since then, the group has worked more than 30 000 hours and generated more than 13 000 GWh, the equivalent to the average annual electrical consumption of almost 4 million households.

Aboño’s thermal power plant is a strategic installation that ensures the electric supply to the big industry settled in Asturias. It is, furthermore, a clear example of energy efficiency and circular economy, because, in order to generate energy, it revalues steel gas of the ArcelorMittal plant that it has in Veriña, that would be otherwise burnt in torch and released directly into the atmosphere.

With this new investment, EDP reinforces its commitment with Asturias, while continuing to go forward towards its decarbonization process. This has been the first company to announce a project alternative to carbon in Spain, specifically in Aboño 1, group that will transform with an investment of 100 million euros, so that it uses only steel gases, avoiding the use of carbon. This first group, that has permission to function 1 500 hours a year, has been functioning during the inspection to ensure electric supply.

This inspection, as well as the continuous improvements in the production centers, with more than 250 million euros invested in the last years, turn the generation installations of EDP in the most efficient of Spain, apart from strengthening its commitment with employment and economic development of the region.