Iberdrola Renovables Opens Spain’s First Forest Biomass Plant In Corduente (Guanalajara), Iberdrola Renovables
Release Date: 2009-07-29
- It has capacity to supply electricity to 14,000 people, the entire population of Señorío de Molina de Aragón
- The project, in partnership with the regional government of Castilla-La Mancha and the local authority in Corduente, will clean up and prune off around 26,000 tonnes of forest waste per year from the surrounding wood and scrubland
- The main goal is to prevent fires and pests
- The plant employs 18 people on-site and another 14 to crush and transport the biomass, as well as the 250 people employed by the regional government to keep scrubland and woodland clean
- The facility was opened today by the president of Castilla-La Mancha, José María Barreda, and the chairman of IBERDROLA RENOVABLES, Ignacio Galán
IBERDROLA RENOVABLES today opened Spain’s first forest biomass plant in Corduente (Guadalajara). Located adjacent to the Alto Tajo Natural Park, this is the first facility in Spain to use only forest waste to produce electricity. Its main goal is to prevent fires and pests
Execution of this project, which has been launched as scheduled two years after planning commenced, has been made possible by the efforts and collaboration of the Castilla-La Mancha regional government and the town council of Corduente.
José María Barreda, President of Castilla-La Mancha, and Ignacio Galán, Chairman of IBERDROLA RENOVABLES, opened the plant today. Other personalities attending the event were the mayor of Corduente, Fernando Miguel; the CEO of IBERDROLA RENOVABLES, Xabier Viteri, and the manager of IBERDROLA RENOVABLES in Spain, Víctor M. Rodríguez.
Triple objective
The project was devised with a three-fold objective: to become a pivotal factor in reactivating the economy of Señorío de Molina de Aragón by creating jobs and hiring local companies; to maintain this natural environment and its ecosystem by caring for its woodland and scrubland; and to help consolidate Castilla-La Mancha as a benchmark for clean energy in Spain and Europe.
The Corduente plant will use about 26,000 tonnes of forest waste per year, which will be obtained by cleaning and pruning woodland and scrubland as part of the regional government’s fire-prevention drives.
The technical studies conducted by Castilla-La Mancha University and IBERDROLA Ingeniería prior to building the plant were crucial in choosing Corduente, because of its proximity to the raw materials as well as its good transport links and the existence of adequate lines to transfer the electricity out of the plant.
With the launch of this new plant, IBERDROLA RENOVABLES has created 18 jobs in operations and maintenance and another 14 linked to biomass management, transport and storage activities. The Castilla-La Mancha public corporation for environmental management (GEACAM) will employ another 250 people between October and March to clean up the woodlands that feed the plant with forest waste.
The Corduente plant produces enough electricity to supply 14,000 people, i.e. the entire population of Señorío de Molina de Aragón.
In addition, it will enable IBERDROLA RENOVABLES to make further headway in research on electricity produced from biomass. In partnership with Castilla-La Mancha University, the company is making significant strides in the management and logistics of storing this kind of energy. Studies are also conducted at the plant regarding the quality of the material stored and how best to use the ashes from biomass combustion for agricultural purposes.
There are another three plants in the company’s forest biomass projects in Spain, with a total capacity of more than 30 MW.
IBERDROLA RENOVABLES, leader in Castilla-La Mancha
The Corduente biomass plant is further proof of the firm commitment of IBERDROLA RENOVABLES to developing clean energies in Castilla-La Mancha, where it has already invested more than €2.4bn since it first began operating in the region.
This project, with an installed capacity of 2 MW, comes in addition to other sources of renewable energy already being developed by the company in this region: wind (1,835 MW), solar thermal (50 MW, in the recently-opened plant at Puertollano, Ciudad Real), and mini-hydro (95 MW). In total, these projects have a combined capacity of 1,982 MW (38.6% of the company’s capacity in Spain), making IBERDROLA RENOVABLES a leader in capacity and production of renewables in Castilla-La Mancha.
This is enough power to supply all three million people who live in Castilla-La Mancha. IBERDROLA RENOVABLES has created more than 550 jobs in the region in ten years.
The company leads the sector in Spain, with an installed capacity of 5,124 MW, and worldwide(*), with more than 10,000 MW.
| Type: | NORMAL |
| Company: | Iberdrola Renovables |
| Country: | Spain |
| Url: | http://www.iberdrola.es/webibd/corporativa/iberdrola?IDPAG=ENMODULOPRENSA&URLPAG=/gc/prod/en/comunicacion/notasprensa/090729_NP_01_IRbiomasaCorduente.html&WT.rss_a=IBERDROLA_RENOVABLES_OPENS_SPAIN%27S |