Endesa secures further €250m for smart grid in Spain
Spanish utility Endesa has secured a second round of ‘sustainable’ finance from the European Investment Bank to complete the €500 million (US$545 million) smart grid funding.
The loan will support investments by Endesa’s network subsidiary e-distribución in the modernisation and expansion of Spain’s distribution networks with smart technologies to increase the security and quality of supply during the period to 2024.
The focus of the activities will be in eight autonomous communities, Andalusia, Aragon, the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands, Castilla y León, Catalonia, Extremadura and Galicia.
Most of these regions have a GDP per capita below the EU average and thus meet the Bank’s objectives of supporting cohesion and regional development.
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The development of a smart grid forms one of the two pillars of Endesa’s strategic plan, along with the development of generation from renewable sources. In the three years 2023-2025, the company plans to allocate €2.6 billion ($2.8 billion) to the distribution networks out of a total investment of €8.6 billion.
A similar €250 million ($272 million) load was secured in November 2022, with the ‘sustainable’ moniker linking the loan conditions to Endesa’s emissions reduction targets.
The loan also brings the total financing for Endesa from the EIB for the advance of smart grids in Spain to €1.35 billion ($1.5 billion) since 2014.
Endesa says in a statement that the investments represent a significant boost in terms of digitisation, automation and sensing of the networks with more efficient electricity infrastructures that contribute to the energy transition by enabling the integration of renewable energies, the deployment of electric vehicles and the promotion of self-consumption.
The company details 12 smart grid projects under way, the latest including network operation and maintenance training for employees to support the digital transformation.
Endesa anticipates that the two loans could generate employment for up to 8,000 people during the implementation.
