Iberdrola activates the redesign of the electrical network in Valencia “for the 21st century”

Once the electricity supply was restored after DANA and all affected infrastructures were reviewed, Iberdrola has moved on to the second phase of its plan in the province of Valencia. The company has formed a team dedicated exclusively to redesign of an electrical distribution network “for the 21st century.”

These are the words of its president, Ignacio Galán, who has visited the province on several occasions after DANA and who did so again recently to participate in a meeting with the main managers from i-DE, the distribution company of the Iberdrola group, to find out the details of this second stage that will involve a new design of the electrical network.

This is an action that will entail a million dollar investment and will incorporate resilience measures that entail “design changes to the assets” to “mitigate the impact in the event of future storms.” These transformations “must be coordinated with the improvements that the different public administrations carry out.”

Thus, Ignacio Galán has changed the usual Christmas greeting message to the more than 40,000 company workers and this year he has done it as tribute from the Valencia Distribution Operation Centerwith live connection to the Madrid and Bilbao headquarters. The event was broadcast electronically to the rest of the employees.

In his message, he made a special mention of gratitude for the initial effort made by more than 500 employees in the recovery of the electricity supply in record time and said he is convinced that work will continue with the same enthusiasm in the construction of new infrastructure.

Furthermore, the president emphasized that The company “will not skimp on resources, human and material technicians” to make a 21st century network that is “model and example for Spain and the rest of the world.”

Ignacio Galán already made a first visit to Valencia the first week, accompanied by Mario Ruiz-Tagle, CEO of Iberdrola Spain, to know in situ the incidents caused by DANA. From the beginning, i-DE mobilized, among its own personnel and contractor companies, approximately 500 people from both the Valencian Community and other regions in the rest of Spain to proceed with the replacement of the electricity supply and the repair of the affected facilities as it progressed. access being possible.

More than 200 people moved on the first day (own and contractor companies) from outside the province of Valencia to support both field work and reinforce and relieve the personnel who operate the control centers.

The company’s rapid action and mobilization of all the resources at its disposal, including the installation of more than 120 generating sets, allowed recover approximately 90% of the affected electricity supply in just 48 hours. And, in just over 72, practically everything was already restored. The company has been in permanent contact with the different public administrations (state, regional and local) to report on the situation and its evolution.

Collaboration with recovery

Ignacio Galán, accompanied by Mario Ruiz-Tagle, CEO of Iberdrola Spain, in ValenciaIberdrola

Once a large part of the supply had been replaced, Iberdrola contacted the different corresponding administrations and installer associations to help as far as possible in the coordination of the work to replace service to customers and administrations in their particular facilities.

The company and the Generalitat Valenciana, through the Department of Innovation and Industry, are collaborating with the Valencian Metallurgical Business Federation (FEMEVAL) for the sending brigades of electrical installers to buildings and homes affected by the floods, which are responsible for the review and repair of the electrical link installations and the checking of the electrical panels, as well as the needs that may arise for the different town councils with the restoration of the public lighting service .

Iberdrola has also carried out different actions in solidarity with those affected, and joined the strike of ten minutes of silence for those affected by DANA in all its facilities in Spain, as well as those carried out by company volunteers in the preparation of kits with school supplies that have been sent to schools in the affected area and collaboration in cleaning tasks at educational centers and sports centers.

The generation plants that avoided the blackout

The series of tornadoes generated by DANA during its passage through the province of Valencia caused the fall of several very high voltage transmission lines of Red Eléctrica and i-DE distribution in the Catadau transformer substation that put the electrical system in a bind due to the difficulty of maintaining the energy balance in the area, which would have aggravated the situation caused by the floods.

Iberdrola’s main generation plants in the Valencian Community (Cofrentes nuclear power plant, La Muela pumped hydroelectric plant and Castellón combined cycle plant) were fundamental to guarantee the electricity supply of the province of Valencia and avoid a general blackout.