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10 milestones of the Red Eléctrica Group to make 2021 a crucial year in the transition towards greener energy
December is here and we take the time to look back and review everything that has happened over the past twelve months. Red Eléctrica Group has pooled that information to provide you with a summary containing the company’s most outstanding milestones of 2021.
30/12/2021
We have continued working under the principles of efficiency and sustainability that we are well known for, to ensure the constant supply of electricity and connectivity in a year, marked by the recovery of economic activity in Spain.
In addition, throughout these twelve months, we have been working by your side to move ecological transition and telecommunications objectives a step further, supporting each other in the promotion of renewables and digitization.
At this point, we propose a review of our most relevant activities in 2021.
Strategic Plan 2021-2025: the Group's new roadmap
In February, the Red Eléctrica Group Board of Directors approved the 2021-2025 Strategic Plan, based on three fundamental pillars: strong commitment to the energy transition, promotion of connectivity solutions and consolidation of the international business. To this end, the company is to launch a series of measures worth €4,400 million over the next few years.
15 years of integrating renewable energy safely
Our Renewable Energy Control Centre (CECRE) celebrated its 15th anniversary and today it remains a global benchmark and a pioneering infrastructure. It boasts of having contributed to integrating thousands of TWh of green electricity and to being a key player in the progress towards a more sustainable future, as confirmed by the presidents of the European Commission, Úrsula Von de Leyen, and of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, when they chose precisely this scenario to formalise Europe's green light for the National Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan that will channel NextGenerationEU funds.
Elewit launches its first intrapreneurship programme
The technological platform of the Red Eléctrica Group, Elewit, launched this project in 2021, which is committed to internal talent and which is designed with a defined goal: to turn the company's professionals into true protagonists of innovation, offering them the opportunity to undertake within the group and receive the necessary support to make their idea come true.
30 years since the launch of the first Hispasat satellite
Hispasat 1A was launched 30 years ago from the Kourou space centre in French Guiana. At that time, it was a great advance in the modernization of Spain and its technological development. On the 30th anniversary, in August, King Felipe VI welcomed the members of the Board of Directors of Hispasat, a company that is looking to launch its Amazonas Nexus satellite into orbit in 2022.
New approach to social innovation by the Red Eléctrica Group
Within the framework of the 2021 Sustainability Conference, the Red Eléctrica Group presented its new approach to social action in October, with which it will contribute, through innovative projects and with the help of the third sector, local agents and other companies, to the reduction of the territorial, digital, gender and intergenerational inequalities experienced by rural areas in Spain.
Watch the 2021 Sustainability Conference again
Progress on three new submarine links among islands
The aim is decisively improving the safety and quality of the supply of electrical systems, and facilitating progress in the energy transition both in the Balearic archipelago, with the beginning of the construction of a new submarine cable between Ibiza and Formentera, and in the Canary archipelago, where work has begun on the cable that will link Lanzarote to Fuerteventura. In addition, the Canary Islands have also seen the unveiling of the project to unify the systems of La Gomera and Tenerife.
Green light for Salto de Chira, the first major storage project
We have obtained the administrative authorizations and the declaration of public utility to be able to start the works of the project of the reversible pumping hydroelectric plant (CHB) of Salto de Chira, on the island of Gran Canaria. Thanks to an investment of €400 million, the project will benefit from the existence of two large reservoirs (the Chira and Soria dams) to build a pumping hydroelectric plant between them, which will offer a greater guarantee of supply and reinforcement of the system safety and will increase the share of renewable energy penetration.
Our redOS app, awarded at the enerTIC Awards
The ICT Companies Platform for the improvement of Energy Efficiency and Sustainability (enerTIC) has distinguished our redOS app with the IX eneTIC Awards in its ‘Energy Transition & Sustainability’ category. Launched in November 2020, this Red Eléctrica de España app provides the most relevant information on the Spanish electricity system, such as the demand curve in real time, and the contribution to the generation mix of both renewable and free energy of CO2 equivalent emissions.
Consolidation of Reintel's position in the telecommunications sector
The Red Eléctrica Group reached an agreement with the KKR fund for the sale of a 49% stake in Reintel's capital stock, thus becoming a long-term strategic partner in its dark fibre optic subsidiary. This transaction, for which the Red Eléctrica Group will provide €971 million and maintain the majority of the capital and control of Reintel, represents a milestone in the execution of the company's strategic plan, strengthening its financial capacity to lead the energy transition, as well as promoting and consolidating its diversification strategy.
Big Green Energy Boost
According to the 2021 year-end forecast published by Red Eléctrica de España, renewable energies produced 46.6% of all the annual electricity in Spain, with wind energy being the technology that has generated most energy, and solar energy is the one that has grown the most compared to 2020. At the peninsular level, both technologies have broken all their instantaneous production marks and their participation in the mix, in which they have reached around 84% and 44% of the coverage of peninsular demand at that time, respectively. In turn, December 8th was celebrated as the day with the highest production of all renewables, accounting for 551 GWh, 69% of the total.
