Gironés-Raïmats

Climate change requires a paradigm shift. The present and future of energy demand an approach that progressively embraces a commitment to replacing fossil and nuclear fuels with renewable energies. Moreover, this transition has to be clean, safe and sustainable over time, as well as caring for the environment and the region.

The Gironés-Raïmats project is led by a team of people who are strongly involved in and committed to the Terres de l’Ebre region. We have spent a large part of our professional lives studying and conserving this biosphere reserve, designated as such by UNESCO in 2013, as well as improving the road network in the area.

Over ten years ago, due to our concern for energy and the environment, we began studying alternatives in the local counties for storing the great surpluses of electricity generated by renewable sources. This led us to tackle the challenge of building a hydro-pumping plant in the Terres de l’Ebre and we have worked hard to make it a reality. The team, that is spearheading the initiative, created the company EBERGY 2011. This was an essential step to enable us to carry out the necessary administrative procedures and undertake the basic engineering for the preliminary design.

We have opted for the most mature, safe, durable and reliable technology for storing electrical energy: a pumped-storage hydroelectricity plant, also known as a hydro-pump facility.

The project has become a key part of the energy transition in Catalonia, Spain and the European Union.

Over the course of developing this project, we have worked with local councils, organizations and public institutions to realize the opportunity to generate wealth a in a strategic, cutting-edge sector while, at the same time, preserving the region’s rich environmental resources.

What is our mission?

The Gironés-Raïmats project is part of the solution to a problem that affects us all right now and which needs an immediate solution that will benefit current and future generations. This solution has to guarantee that we take full advantage of the electrical energy generated by renewable sources.

Electrical energy has to be consumed at the moment it is generated. If that is not an option, it can be stored indirectly through physical (such as our project) or chemical procedures (like batteries). Therefore, surplus energy needs a place to be stored to prevent it from being wasted and enabling its subsequent use as required.

Gironés-Raïmats will be the largest storage facility for electrical energy in Europe.

How does it work?

The project will consist of two reservoirs of the same volume but at different altitudes, far from the Ebro River. The lower reservoir is the Gironés, and the higher one, the Raïmats. Once the lower reservoir has been filled with water from the river, practically no more water will be needed.

The two reservoirs will be connected by an underground gallery through which the water will circulate. This gallery will have an engine room built within the mountain. The hydraulic machines can operate as pumps or turbines, depending on which way they turn.

When surplus energy is generated by wind or solar resources in the system, the machines will act as pumps that consume energy from the mains network to draw the water up from the lower reservoir (which empties) to the top reservoir (which fills up). This enables us to “save” the surplus electrical energy at certain times by drawing water up to a higher altitude.

In contrast, when there is a lack of electrical energy in the system, the water is released to fall under the force of gravity from the higher reservoir (which empties) to the lower reservoir (which fills up), making the machines turn in the opposite direction. The machines therefore act as hydraulic turbines that can generate electricity to be put into the mains network.

It is an electrical
energy storage plant.

The two reservoirs are
at different altitudes,
far from the Ebro River.

It is not a power
generation plant.

The Ebro River
will not be used
for its operation.

Why in the Terres de l’Ebre region?

The location of the Gironés-Raïmats plant is strategic and unique because it meets the following requirements:

There is water, an elevation difference and high-voltage electrical lines to connect to the plant.
There are several photovoltaic parks and wind farms in Aragón and Catalonia from which the surplus energy can be used to fill the storage facility. In addition, within the next few years, a floating wind farm will be installed along the Catalan coast.
There are cities and industrial complexes nearby which, as large consumers, can empty the storage facility at certain times.
The environment reserves are protected.
Being close to France, Gironés-Raïmats acts a border point for the unified European electricity market.

Timeline

Start of the application procedure for the water concession from the Hydrographic Confederation of the Ebro River

Start of the environmental permit application from the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge

The project is included on the third list of Projects of Common Interest

The project is included on the fourth list of Projects of Common Interest

Planned date for completing the administrative procedures

Planned date for carrying out the works and starting the operation of the plant

November 2011

July 2017

November 2017

November 2019

2021-2024

2024-2030