The general director of Endesa in Aragon, Ignacio Montaner, attended the blowing up of the chimney of the Andorra Thermal Power Plant this Thursday. There he stated that “we hope to be present for a long time and create employment and wealth in the area.”
Montaner has recognized that, with the demolition of the chimney, “a symbol that Endesa has taken care of has fallen”, but that what really matters to the company is “to continue creating wealth and employment in Andorra”.
Both the chimney and the rest of the facilities of the old thermal power station were prepared to be in operation for 40 years, a period of time that has already expired, Montaner declared.
In this sense, he has pointed out that adapt the infrastructure to current regulations It involved an investment of more than four million, to which are added the maintenance work every ten years of one million euros, “and no one has assumed that cost or proposed a useful use for the chimney.”
On Endesa’s part, Ignacio Montaner remarked, “it has made a commitment to the future, proposing build something that would generate wealth in the areaand we believe that what we do is the most beneficial option”, which involves the implementation of a new industry and the development of new energy power, this time renewable.
In these areas, the general director of Endesa in Aragon specified, will generate clean energy with an installed capacity of 1,843.6 MWthanks to seven hybrid renewable projects, two battery storage projects, a green hydrogen project and a synchronous compensator.
The renewable development proposed by Endesa for Andorra is not only the construction of new wind and solar capacity, but also the hybridization of these projects and storage with two battery plants. The new renewable plants will be located in Albalate del Arzobispo, Híjar, Samper de Calanda, Castelnou, Andorra, Calanda, Alcañiz, La Puebla de Híjar, Jatiel, and Alcorisa, in the province of Teruel.
Added to all this is a electrolyzer of 15 MW, which will make it possible to manage surplus renewable energy for the production of green hydrogen that will help decarbonize surrounding industries, the construction of an electrolyser factory, and a synchronous compensator that will allow this renewable energy to be poured with higher quality, favoring good operation of the electricity transmission network.
“I like to say that this will be a new center of industrial activities and a paradigm shift,” Montaner added.
Two years
The dismantling process of the Andorra thermal power plant began in February 2021, while Endesa requested its closure in 2019. After almost two years, Ignacio Montaner has expressed, “we can say that the disassembly work carried out is close to 65 percent “.
With respect to new industrial project that will occupy the space of the old power station, the person in charge of the company in Aragon has pointed out that he expects its longevity to be at least 40 years, since that is the expected duration for the wind and photovoltaic farms.
Montaner has emphasized that Endesa’s project for the Mudejar knot guarantees, in writing, that the volume of employment at the old thermal power plant will be exceeded, with 500 permanent and long-term jobs that this Endesa plan will generate.
He also explained that this summer is expected start construction in the coal park; while with regard to the follow-up plan, the environmental studies still need to be completed, but they will be presented before the summer, and the intention is to start its execution in the second semester of 2024.
chimney demolition
For his part, the person in charge of demolition, Luigi Erbi, recalled that to carry out the blasting, a previous project had been carried out and in which all safety aspects had been taken into account, “because it is a milestone very important”. Conditions to the ground have been taken into account, with measures to cushion the fall.
The demolition of the chimney, 343 meters high, has been possible thanks to the use of 265 kilos of explosive“the safest way” for the characteristics of the space, because that way everything falls to the ground, noted Erbi, who also argued that the concrete resulting from the blasting is reused to fill cavities in other structures.
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