ACCIONA will supply electricity to Acuamed for the third year running

For the third year running ACCIONA has been awarded the supply contract for electric power to all the desalination/drinking-water plants and other facilities managed by the state-owned company Aguas de las Cuencas Mediterráneas (Acuamed) for one year starting in July 2013, with an estimated budget of 31 million euros.

ACCIONA, through its subsidiary ACCIONA Green Energy Developments, will guarantee electricity supplies to all the infrastructures of Acuamed, including desalination and drinking-water transport and distribution infrastructures - both in service and at an advanced stage of execution that will enter service during the contract term - and the offices of the company in Madrid (head office), Valencia, Murcia, Almería, Málaga and Tarragona.

This accounts for around 160 supply points with total installed capacity of 205 megawatts (MW) and an estimated annual consumption of 429 gigawatt-hours (GWh), representing an increase of around 24% on the estimated consumption level of the current contract.

100% renewable electricity 

Among the biggest infrastructures affected by this contract are desalination plants at Carboneras (Almería), Torrevieja (Alicante), Águilas and Valdelentisco (Murcia), and the water purification plants at Albacete and Júcar-Vinalopó

100% of the power contracted from ACCIONA will come from renewable sources, with certificates of origin issued by the Spanish National Energy Commission. As in the previous contracts, this aspect was positively considered among the assessment parameters for tenderers.

ACCIONA has also responded to the demand flexibility requirements put forward by Acuamed, which reports to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment. This will allow the company to make considerable savings in energy costs by making use of the capacity of many of the infrastructures it manages (e.g. desalination plants) to modulate their consumption and transfer it to times of day when the price of energy on the electricity market is lower.

Other major contracts

With this award, ACCIONA continues to strengthen its energy marketing business for 100% renewable energy to end customers. In 2012 this reached a total of 3.287 GWh.

Among ACCIONA's customers are major companies in the infrastructures and public services field. The biggest deal is the supply contract with ADIF, whereby ACCIONA currently powers over 94% of rail traffic in Spain with renewable electricity, including all the AVE (High Speed Train) lines.

Other ACCIONA customers in this field are Aena, Telefónica, Metro de Madrid, Roca, Tetrapak, Grupo Corío, APM Terminals, the Prado Museum and Canal Isabel II Gestión.

The marketing of energy to large customers is a business area through which ACCIONA - a world leader in the development, construction, exploitation and operation renewable energy installations - completes its presence throughout the value chain of the energy sector.