* Author: Fernando Perán Montero *
The completion of the Santo Estevo II project (Orense) is now a reality. February 2013 marked the end of the process of commissioning this power plant, which was built in record time since the first bricks were laid in September 2008.
The construction of the Santo Estevo II power plant, located at the end of the River Sil, 7 kilometres before it flows into the River Miño, is an example of Iberdrola’s traditional commitment to hydroelectric power plants. This technology always requires a significant initial investment, which is normally only undertaken by companies that have a very long term commitment to the countries where they operate.
From the operational point of view, electricity from hydraulic sources is a clean, renewable form of energy that does not produce emissions. Moreover, it provides very flexible energy to the electricity system, which means that it is possible to optimise the use of non-manageable renewable energy sources, such as wind power.
The construction of this plant, which has a capacity of 176,9 MW, was completed in compliance with the strictest environmental criteria and in a cavern design, so as to minimise the visual impact and effects on the ecosystem in such a privileged area as the River Sil Canyons. This same criterion was also applied to the design of the electromechanical equipment at the plant, where our commitment to preserving biodiversity in the area meant that the very latest technical advances were always implemented, such as the use of double layer heat exchangers or detectors to identify oil in cooling and pumping circuits.
In the case of Santo Estevo II, the management of Iberdrola decided to harness the company’s experience of more than a hundred years in running hydroelectric power plants by training an Electromechanical Operation Engineering team, which has joined the project team in defining the criteria to be used for designing each power plant. As the person in charge of this team, I am proud to have been able to coordinate the work of the professionals working in our river basins, the Technical Hydraulic Service and other organisations linked to operation, in order to contribute towards defining engineering criteria with a clear goal in mind: to design and build power plants with optimal functioning in operation.
It has been a very positive experience, as by working together we have managed to enhance the design criteria with our everyday experience in running hydroelectric power plants. The result is the construction of a facility that has been expertly adapted to the actual operating needs, which will lead to lower operation and maintenance costs.
Now that the commissioning stage has ended, I realise that the whole project was a very enriching experience that has given me an insight into the work methods of the leading companies in the sector that develop projects with this level of complexity. As the culmination of four years of work, commissioning the power plant has been a unique learning experience and in my personal opinion, this is one of the most satisfying aspects of any work.
Four years have gone by since the work began and all the members of the project team are in agreement as to how fast the time has flown by. They were years of very intense teamwork that has improved us as a group. In many cases, we have even developed strong ties of friendship.
Our greatest satisfaction is to think that this project is designed to last for much longer than any of those that have worked on it. As the work progressed, I came to understand the difficulties faced by the engineers that designed Iberdrola’s first power plants and I feel an ever-increasing admiration towards them and towards their power plants, which after fifty years are still working just as well as they did on their first day.
