Velilla del Río Carrión power station

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Velilla del Río Carrión power station is a retired power station in Velilla del Río Carrión, Montaña Palentina, Palencia, Castilla y León, Spain.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Plant name Location Coordinates (WGS 84)
Velilla del Río Carrión power station Velilla del Río Carrión, Montaña Palentina, Palencia, Castilla y León, Spain 42.818529, -4.8547 (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: 42.818529, -4.8547

Project Details

Table 2: Unit-level details

Unit name Status Fuel(s) Capacity (MW) Technology Start year Retired year
Unit 1 retired coal: anthracite 154.9 subcritical 1964 2020
Unit 2 retired coal: bituminous 360.7 subcritical 1984 2020

Table 3: Unit-level ownership and operator details

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

Project-level coal details

  • Coal source(s): imported

Background

The Velilla del Río Carrión power station was originally commissioned in 1964 to take advantage of the nearby Palencia mining basin, which encompassed the Sabero, Guardo, and La Pernía mines.[1] However, in the 1990s, the plant began using imported coal, which arrived through the Port of Santander and the Musel of Gijón; fuel and gas were also used as backup fuel.[1] Water to cool the plant is sourced from the Carrion River.[2]

In 2008, a desulfurization unit was added to Unit 2 of the plant; yet in 2009, the plant still emitted 928,000 tonnes of CO2.[2]

In November 2017, Iberdrola, the operator/sponsor of the plant, requested permission from the government to close of the plant due to rising costs and decreased profitability.[3] On November 18, 2017, three thousand people protested the closure in Velilla's main square, afraid it would lead to loss of jobs.[1]

On June 30, 2020, along with several other plants (see Compostilla, Litoral, Teruel), the plant was disconnected from the grid and decommissioned.[3][1]

To replace the Velilla plant, Iberdrola announced it would develop over 1,800 MW of wind and photovoltaic power, representing an investment of over 1,300 million Euros. In Velilla, it will build a solar photovoltaic complex with a capacity of 400 MW, representing an investment of 300 million euros and creating around 4,000 jobs.[4]

Articles and Resources

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "Central térmica de Velilla - Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre". es.wikipedia.org (in español). Retrieved 2021-07-13.
  2. 2.0 2.1 "Velilla (Guarda) Coal Power Plant Spain - GEO". globalenergyobservatory.org. Retrieved 2021-07-13.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Planelles, Manuel (2020-06-29). "España desconecta siete centrales térmicas y arranca el proceso para enterrar el carbón". EL PAÍS (in español). Retrieved 2021-07-13.
  4. "Iberdrola acelera sus inversiones en renovables en Castilla y León para la transformación verde de la comarca de Velilla". Iberdrola (in español). Retrieved 2021-07-13.

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.