Endesa Continues Conversion Work at As Pontes Thermal Plant

Spanish utility Endesa has started the E275 million transformation initiative at the third unit of its 1,400MW As Pontes thermal power station in La Coruna, Spain. Once the developments are complete in October, the third unit will be connected to Spain’s national grid.

Once the transformation has been concluded, the group will only consume imported coal which will arrive at the new port being built by Endesa in Ferrol, the company said. Through this port, Endesa will import some five million tonnes of coal from Indonesia every year.

After the conversion of the third unit, Endesa will start work on converting the power station’s last unit, in January 2008. This unit will stop using local lignite, which has a high sulfur content and low energy value. The conversion will involve adapting the thermal production unit so that, instead of consuming a mixture of lignite and sub-bituminous coal, it only uses the latter.

The work will cut CO2 emissions by more than one million tonnes, lower sulfur dioxide emissions by 95.5%, nitrous oxide emissions by 16.5% and particle emissions by 54.5%. Moreover, downtime for breakdowns should improve, while operating and maintenance costs are likely to fall, Endesa revealed.

According to Endesa, the project should help to further diversify Spain’s power generation assets. In addition, by extending the working life of the power station by another 25 years, it will contribute significantly to the company’s security of supply.

Endesa believes that the transformation of the four units of the 1,400MW power station, the largest in Spain, will extend its working life, improve its environmental efficiency and strengthen the company’s market position.