Ence Energía y Celulosa continues to work on the strategy of its renewable business and for this it has created four new companies: Ence Renovables, Ence Servicios Energéticos, Ence PV and Ence Biomasa. All of them began operating on March 7 and their corporate purpose is “the development, promotion, construction, operation, acquisition and sale of renewable energy plants and all related infrastructures.”
The constitution of these companies was published last week in the Official Gazette of the Mercantile Registry (BORME) and Ence sources consulted by La Información explain that it is a corporate movement in order to prepare the company for eventual operations. “Since ence, we have been working on the strategy of our renewable business, and these companies have been created in case, in the future, it was decided to use them,” the company qualifies.
In the field of biomass, at the end of last year it announced its intention to launch a bioplant in As Pontes, coinciding with the industrial conversion of the area, as published by this medium. It would be dedicated to the production of recycled fiber and biomaterials from virgin cellulose produced in Pontevedra plus recovered paper and cardboard. The plan put on the table would imply a total investment of 335 million euros to convert a plant powered by fossil fuels into a facility based on the reuse of natural resources.
Bet on biomethane
Magnon Green Energy, Ence’s renewable energy subsidiary, has an installed capacity of 266 megawatts of generation with agroforestry biomass. In total, it has three plants in Huelva, two in the province of Ciudad Real, one in Córdoba, one in Jaén and one in Mérida. On the other hand, Ence has focused on renewable gases and, in July of last year, launched Ence Biogás with the aim of becoming a leader in renewable energy in the country.
It has recently signed a contract with Sener for the development of conceptual, basic and detailed engineering for six biomethane plants. With the entry into operation of these facilities, scheduled for the end of 2025 or the beginning of 2026, it will inject 300 gigawatt hours (GWh) of biomethane into the gas network and generate 90,000 tons of biofertilizer for agricultural use. In total, it has a portfolio of 15 biomethane plants under development in the autonomous communities of Andalusia, Aragon, Catalonia, Navarra, Castilla y León, Castilla la Mancha, Murcia and the Basque Country. ence’s objective is to develop 20 biogas plants in the next five years, consolidating its diversification in renewable energies
The company took the first step in this commitment after closing an agreement to transfer its solar portfolio to Naturgy for 62 million euros. Both firms hope to complete the operation between this year and 2024. Ence’s ‘green’ subsidiary has not always been called Magnon Green Energy, but the group changed the name and visual identity of Ence Energía in March of last year to reflect the growing weight of the energy business in the group. The idea was to provide visibility and emancipate the energy brand, reinforcing its own personality within the national sector and continue advancing both in the generation of renewable energy with photovoltaics and biomass as well as in solutions and developments for energy management, storage, biogétiento.
Two months earlier, he created the figure of CEO in the energy subsidiary, a position held by Marc Gómez, former president and CEO of ABB in Spain, and which is now in the hands of Guillermo Negro. However, the company uncovered its energy treasure much earlier. In November 2020, he won 49% of the then Ence Energía from the Ancala Partners fund for 359 million euros. The incorporation of this British infrastructure fund sought to enhance its electrical activity, while reinforcing its capacity to invest in renewable energy. The 50 MW solar thermal power plant that it had in Puertollano (Ciudad Real) was left out of operation and later Q-Energy (now Qualitas Energy) was left for 168 million euros.
