Litoral de Almería power station

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Litoral de Almería power station is a retired power station in Carboneras, Levante Almeriense, Almería, Andalusia, Spain. It is also known as Carboneras power station.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Plant name Location Coordinates (WGS 84)
Litoral de Almería power station Carboneras, Levante Almeriense, Almería, Andalusia, Spain 36.978378, -1.904999 (exact)

The map below shows the exact location of the power station.

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Unit-level coordinates (WGS 84):

  • Unit 1, Unit 2: 36.978378, -1.904999

Project Details

Table 2: Unit-level details

Unit name Status Fuel(s) Capacity (MW) Technology Start year Retired year
Unit 1 retired coal: bituminous 577 subcritical 1985 2021
Unit 2 retired coal: bituminous 582 subcritical 1997 2021

Table 3: Unit-level ownership and operator details

Unit name Owner Parent
Unit 1 Endesa SA [100%] Endesa SA [100.0%]
Unit 2 Endesa SA [100%] Endesa SA [100.0%]

Background

The Litoral de Almería power station was built in 1985 by contracted construction company Initec. Attached to a coal port for receiving imported coal supplies, the plant was considered Andalusia's worst polluter and Spain's third-worst polluter (in 2018).[1][2] In 2009, the plant emitted around 5.1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, 14 thousand tonnes of sulfur oxides, and 9740 tonnes of nitrous oxides. In 2010, the plant was equipped with desulfurization technology, which reportedly decreased emissions by 100,000 tonnes per year; however, the plant is still accused of causing 111 deaths per year with its direct emissions.[2]

In 2017, Endesa installed a lithium-ion 20 MW electrical storage system that would allow the plant to produce energy more efficiently by avoiding unnecessary coal-firing when energy demands are lower.[2]

In 2020, the plant barely operated due to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on electricity demand.[3]

Retirement

In December 2019, Endesa requested a permit to shut the Litoral de Almería plant down from the government; most sources estimate that the plant would shut between 2021 and 2022.[3][4] According to Power magazine, dismantling the power plant would take up to four and a half years in total.[4]

Endesa planned to replace Litoral de Almería plant's capacity with 1.5 gigawatts of renewable energy (primarily solar) with investments of around €1.2 billion in Almería.[5] Spain's national grid operator, Red Eléctrica de España (REE), confirmed the addition of 250 MW of renewable energy from Endesa.[4]

The power station shut down in 2021.[6]

Articles and Resources

References

  1. "Litoral de Almeira (Carboneras) Coal Power Plant Spain - GEO". Global Energy Observatory. Retrieved 2021-07-02.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Central térmica Litoral de Almería - Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre". es.wikipedia.org (in español). Retrieved 2021-07-02.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Planelles, Manuel (2020-06-28). "España desconecta siete centrales térmicas y arranca el proceso para enterrar el carbón". EL PAÍS (in español). Retrieved 2021-07-02.
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 "Endesa to Close Two Giant Spanish Coal Plants". POWER Magazine. 2020-02-03. Retrieved 2021-07-02.
  5. "Futur-e in Litoral". Endesa. 2021-02-04. Retrieved 2021-07-02.
  6. "España apaga la central térmica de carbón de Carboneras, en Almería: un nuevo paso hacia la energía limpia," Motor Passion, December 17, 2021

Additional data

To access additional data, including an interactive map of coal-fired power stations, a downloadable dataset, and summary data, please visit the Global Coal Plant Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.