Spain-headed forest and energy major Ence Energía y Celulosa S.A (Ence) has recently announced that it is "firmly committed "to growth in biomass energy production and diversification towards other renewables such as solar thermal or photovoltaic. The company is also "firmly committed" to the necessary decarbonisation of the national energy model, which is materialized in the six projects that are currently underway in five Andalusian provinces and will add 330 MW of installed power capacity.
According to a statement, the six projects that have the REE Access Feasibility Report are in different stages of maturity and are progressing as planned in the administrative processing, environmental, and social studies phases. Specifically, 90 MW are developed from agroforestry biomass and another 240 MW from photovoltaics.
Large-scale solar PV
Among the development projects with solar photovoltaics, the largest, of 100 MWe, will be located in the municipality of Andújar, in Jaén. Another 90 MWe PV plant will be located in the town of Salteras, while a 40 MWe PV facility will be located in the Huelva area of Lepe.
In addition, the Ence energy complex in Huelva will be increased by 10 MW, in which the new project benefits from all its operational energy infrastructure.
All locations for photovoltaic plants have been carefully selected and are in Zone 5 of solar irradiation, the highest climatic classification according to the average daily global solar radiation per year.
This, in addition to promoting the viability of the projects being developed, is one more guarantee factor so that these six plants projected by Ence can fulfill their main function: to cover the annual electrical needs of more than 120 500 homes from renewable sources.
Two biomass power projects
Of the two projects for plants to generate electrical energy from agroforestry biomass, a technology in which Ence is the leader in Spain, the most advanced is that of El Ejido in Almería.
In this case, during the slowdown derived from the situation caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the company has taken the opportunity to work intensively on the project’s engineering and logistics. Ence trusts that the publication of the Energy Auctions, reflected in the PNIEC (Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan), will take place soon, something essential to give security to the project.
To the planned plant in Almería, designed to provide an effective environmental solution to problems in the area, valorizing by-products from greenhouses, another project is added in the municipality of Córdoba with 50 MW.
The Cordovan project will present its previous administrative and environmental request in the coming weeks, fundamentally valuing agricultural by-products from the area.
