Endesa to retain As Pontes to 2023

Resumen de Prensa            Enervía, jueves, 27 marzo 2003

FUENTE: Platts


The board of Spain's Endesa Wednesday approved
transformation work on its 1.4GW As Pontes coal-fired plant to
enable it to use 100% imported coal, the company said. The
work will also extend the working life of Spain's largest coal-fired
plant until the year 2023. The transformation of the four 350MW
generating units is to take start in the summer of 2003. The first
modified unit is to begin production at the start of 2005, the
second in the middle of 2006, the third towards the end of 2007
and the fourth in the first half of 2008, Endesa said. The
transformation to imported coal should increase the plant's
efficiency as well as reducing pollution due to the higher calorific
value and lower sulphur content of imported coal. The work is
budgeted to cost Eur274-mil ($292-mil). Endesa's transformation
of As Pontes is part of its 2002- 2006 Eur9.7-bil strategic
investment plan. Of that, Eur5.4-bil is to be spent on maintaining
and improving existing facilities, and the rest to finance organic
growth. The mine which currently supplies As Pontes with coal is
set to be closed in 2007, and Endesa is already preparing the
necessary infrastructure in the port of Ferrol to import coal. The
transformation process had already been approved by the
regional and national governments.