Endesa, S.A. (, originally an initialism for ''Empresa Nacional de Electricidad, S.A''.) is a Spanish multinational
electric
Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...
utility
In economics, utility is a measure of a certain person's satisfaction from a certain state of the world. Over time, the term has been used with at least two meanings.
* In a normative context, utility refers to a goal or objective that we wish ...
company, the largest in the country. The firm, a majority-owned subsidiary of the
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
utility company
Enel
Enel S.p.A. is an Italian multinational manufacturer and distributor of electricity and gas. Enel was first established as a public body at the end of 1962, and then transformed into a limited company in 1992. In 1999, following the liberali ...
, has 10 million customers in Spain, with domestic annual generation of over 97,600
GWh from
nuclear
Nuclear may refer to:
Physics
Relating to the nucleus of the atom:
*Nuclear engineering
*Nuclear physics
*Nuclear power
*Nuclear reactor
*Nuclear weapon
*Nuclear medicine
*Radiation therapy
*Nuclear warfare
Mathematics
* Nuclear space
*Nuclear ...
,
fossil-fueled,
hydroelectric
Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...
, and
renewable resource
A renewable resource (also known as a flow resource) is a natural resource which will replenish to replace the portion depleted by usage and consumption, either through natural reproduction or other recurring processes in a finite amount of t ...
power plant
A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the electricity generation, generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electr ...
s. Internationally, it serves another 10 million customers and provides over 80,100 GWh annually. Total customers numbered 22.2 million as of December 31, 2004. It also markets
energy
Energy () is the physical quantity, quantitative physical property, property that is transferred to a physical body, body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of Work (thermodynamics), work and in the form of heat and l ...
in
Europe
Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
. The company has additional interests in Spanish
natural gas
Natural gas (also fossil gas, methane gas, and gas) is a naturally occurring compound of gaseous hydrocarbons, primarily methane (95%), small amounts of higher alkanes, and traces of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and helium ...
and
telecommunication
Telecommunication, often used in its plural form or abbreviated as telecom, is the transmission of information over a distance using electronic means, typically through cables, radio waves, or other communication technologies. These means of ...
s companies.
Endesa is one of the three large companies in the electricity sector in Spain, which together with
Iberdrola
Iberdrola, S.A. () is a Spanish multinational electric utility company based in Bilbao, Spain. It has around 40,000 employees and serves around 30 million customers.
Subsidiary, Subsidiaries include ScottishPower (United Kingdom), Ava ...
and
Naturgy, dominate around 90% of the national electricity market. Endesa carries out activities of generation, distribution and commercialization of electricity, natural gas and renewable energy through Enel Green Power.
History
The company was formed in 1944 as ''Empresa Nacional de Electricidad, S.A.''; its first president was
Esteban Terradas, and its first
CEO
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization.
CEOs find roles in variou ...
was
Juan Granell Pascual
Juan Granell Pascual (1902-1962) was a Spanish politician, official and businessman. Politically he first supported the Carlist cause and served in the Republican Cortes in 1933–1936. After the Civil War he turned into a militant and zealous F ...
. The company changed its name to ''Endesa, S.A.'' in 1997. In September 2004, it took control of the French company
SNET (''Société nationale d'électricité et de thermique''). This was followed by the
downsizing of 30% of SNET's employees.
Compostilla I was its first production plant, whose construction began in 1945, being inaugurated in Ponferrada, capital of the Leon region of El Bierzo, on July 28, 1949. The site chosen for the plant, financed with public funds, prioritized the proximity to the national coal quarries, since it meant considerably lowering the supply chain for the power plant, at a time when Spain was living blocked after the Civil War. It was a thermoelectric power plant designed to reduce the dependence that until then had on hydraulic energy in Spain. In 1965, the Compostilla II power station was inaugurated in the bordering municipality of Cubillos del Sil, which replaced Compostilla I in 1972.
At the same time that Endesa began its operations in Ponferrada, the shortage of electricity in specific parts of the country was noted, with no possible short-term solution. At that time, it was thought that the implementation of mobile power plants could solve emergency situations that occurred many times in the Spanish electricity system. For all this, Endesa bought ten mobile units to deal with critical situations with the electricity supply in
Seville
Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...
,
Barcelona
Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
,
Cartagena,
Asturias
Asturias (; ; ) officially the Principality of Asturias, is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwest Spain.
It is coextensive with the provinces of Spain, province of Asturias and contains some of the territory t ...
and
Mallorca
Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest of the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain, and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, seventh largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.
The capital of the island, Palma, Majorca, Palma, i ...
. Thus, the so-called "Electricity Firefighters" were born.
Takeover
In September 2005,
Barcelona
Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
-based
Gas Natural
Naturgy Energy Group S.A''.'', formerly ''Gas Natural Fenosa'' (), is a Spanish multinational natural gas and electrical energy utilities company, which operates primarily in Spain. The company's administrative headquarters are in Barcelona, whil ...
made a bid for Endesa, whose board unanimously immediately rejected a €23
billion
Billion is a word for a large number, and it has two distinct definitions:
* 1,000,000,000, i.e. one thousand million, or (ten to the ninth power), as defined on the short scale. This is now the most common sense of the word in all varieties of ...
(£16 billion) offer.
On January 5, 2006, the ''Tribunal de Defensa de la Competencia'' (Competition Court, TDC) blocked the merger of ''Gas Natural'' and Endesa because of what it claimed would be irreversible negative impacts on competition. For most of 2006 and 2007, Endesa was the target of rival takeover bids by Germany's
E.On
E.ON SE is a European multinational electric utility company based in Essen, Germany. It operates as one of the world's largest investor-owned electric utility service providers. The name originates from the Latin word '' aeon'', derived from ...
and the Italian firm
Enel
Enel S.p.A. is an Italian multinational manufacturer and distributor of electricity and gas. Enel was first established as a public body at the end of 1962, and then transformed into a limited company in 1992. In 1999, following the liberali ...
. Despite Gas Natural being half the size of Endesa, its bid was championed by the then-Socialist government as an all-Spanish deal, but Gas Natural decided to withdraw its bid after the German firm E.On offered a higher bid for the company.
The opposition
People's Party of the day, and some Madrid politicians, criticised the bid, alleging political interference by the Socialists and a
Catalan nationalist plot to control energy supply respectively.
On 2 February 2007, E.On offered €38.75 for each share of Endesa. The German firm withdrew its bid two months later in exchange for a promise from rival bidders to sell it part of the Spanish utility's assets.
SNET, Endesa Italia and Enel's
Viesgo were amongst the business units ultimately sold off to E.On.
Acciona
Acciona, S.A. () is a Spanish multinational conglomerate dedicated to the development and management of infrastructure (construction, water, industrial and services) and renewable energy. The company, via subsidiary Acciona Energía, produces 21 ...
and Enel succeeded in their joint bid to acquire Endesa in October 2007 for an estimated €42.5 billion and they announced later that month that they jointly held 92.06% of Endesa's share capital (25.01% Acciona and 67.05% Enel) as a result of their 100% takeover bid launched on Endesa, with the remaining 7.94% being
free float
In the context of stock markets, the public float or free float represents the portion of Share (finance), shares of a corporation that are in the hands of public investors as opposed to locked-in shares held by promoters, company officers, control ...
.
The two companies initially jointly managed Endesa through an Acciona-controlled
holding company
A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the Security (finance), securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own Share ...
which held 50.01% of Endesa's share capital, but in February 2009 Enel agreed to buy out Acciona's stake, taking its total ownership to over 92%.
Some Endesa assets will be sold off to Acciona as part of the deal.
As of September 2015, Enel owned 70.1% of Endesa's share capital.
Carbon intensity
Enel Green Power Spain
Enel Green Power is an Italian multinational that operates in the renewable energy market. The company was incorporated in December 2008 to focus the interests of the
Enel Group in the field of renewable energy worldwide.
In 2020 Enel Green Power is present in 27 countries on five continents with a managed capacity of more than 46 GW and more than 1,200 renewable energy plants.
In 2016, Endesa closed the acquisition of 60% with the Enel Group of the part related to the Spanish market of Enel Green Power Spain, considered the fourth operator in the Spanish renewable energy sector and of which it already owned 40%.
The Enel Green Power Spain operating figures are as follows today:
* Power plants: 266 hydroelectric, wind, solar and biomass plants.
* Total GW: 7.4 the capacity managed.
* 49 projects built in 2019.
Electric vehicle
In Europe, Endesa is the only Spanish company involved in the
ELVIRE (Electric Vehicle Communication to Infrastructure, Road Services and Electricity Supply) and
G4V (Grid for Vehicles) consortia aimed at developing the necessary technology, solutions and services to enable ongoing interaction between drivers, their power suppliers and the
smart grid
The smart grid is an enhancement of the 20th century electrical grid, using two-way communications and distributed so-called intelligent devices. Two-way flows of electricity and information could improve the delivery network. Research is main ...
.
The Chairman of Endesa,
Borja Prado, together with the mayor of Madrid,
Alberto Ruiz Gallardón, and the Chairman of
Telefónica
, S.A. () is a Spanish multinational telecommunications company with registered office and headquarters located in two different places, both in Madrid, Spain. It is one of the largest telephone operators and mobile network providers in the ...
, César Alierta, have the
phone booth
A telephone booth, telephone kiosk, telephone call box, telephone box or public call box is a tiny structure furnished with a payphone and designed for a telephone user's convenience; typically the user steps into the booth and closes the booth ...
in Madrid which can also be used for
recharging electric vehicles. Reserved parking spaces will be located next to this and all other booths set up in Metropolitan areas where users will be able to park their EVs and recharge at no cost once they have obtained their free "zero emissions" pre-paid card from the Madrid city council.
Sustainable mobility to achieve a zero emissions model
In November 2018, started the most ambitious project carried out to date to promote electric mobility in Spain: the Recharging Infrastructures Plan. The objective is to eliminate one of the main barriers when switching to electric mobility access to recharging points. The plan consists of installing 8,500 public recharging points and more than 100,000 private points between 2019 and 2023, so that drivers can comfortably travel around the country in their electric vehicles.
Electric Mobility Plan for Employees
The fifth edition of Electric Mobility Plan for Employees. The purpose is that 200 employees join the 663 that have participated in previous editions. This way, the company expects that in five years 10% of its staff will drive an electric vehicle.
Board of directors
The board of directors of Endesa is composed of the following members:
Chairman
* Feliciano Fuster (1984-1997)
*
Rodolfo Martín Villa (1997-2002)
*
Manuel Pizarro (2002-2007)
*
José Manuel Entrecanales (2007-2009)
*
Borja Prado (2009-2019)
* Juan Sánchez-Calero Guilarte (2019-Actualidad)
See also
*
Enel
Enel S.p.A. is an Italian multinational manufacturer and distributor of electricity and gas. Enel was first established as a public body at the end of 1962, and then transformed into a limited company in 1992. In 1999, following the liberali ...
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Electric power companies of Spain
Natural gas companies of Spain
Nuclear power companies of Spain
Charging stations
Smart grid
Companies based in Madrid
Energy companies established in 1944
Non-renewable resource companies established in 1944
1944 establishments in Spain
Enel
Companies listed on the Madrid Stock Exchange
IBEX 35
Spanish subsidiaries of foreign companies
2007 mergers and acquisitions