Matas opens new power plant

BALEARIC leader Jaume Matas yesterday opened the new power station at Cas Tresorer in Palma, which will boost the production capacity of the Majorca-Minorca grid by 12 per cent. Matas, accompanied by Manuel Pizarro, president of the power company Endesa, switched on the first two gas turbines of this combined cycle power station, which will provide an additional 154 megawatts of power to the grid. This will bring production capacity up to 1'360 megawatts, giving a margin of reserve of 300 megawatts in relation to the estimated maximum demand. At the moment, the record stands at 993 megawatts, registered on Wednesday afternoon.
Matas and Pizarro were accompanied by energy minister Josep Juan Cardona, deputy mayor for tourism, Francisca Bennassar, and Bartomeu Reus, the president of Gesa-Endesa in the Balearics, among others. The new facility has cost 124 million euros and Pizarro said that over the next three years, Endesa will finance projects across the Balearics costing “more than 1'700 million euros.” This will include an electricity cable between Ibiza and Majorca.
He praised the local authorities for their collaboration, which had allowed them to open the power station “in ten months, when in other regions it has taken six to seven years.” Cardona said that the new power station guarantees demand for the next four or five years, adding that demand is expected to rise between four and six per cent a year. Matas said that among the benefits of the new plant will be the reduction of the emission of gases when natural gas is used, once the underwater gas pipe is working. It also diversifies the sources of supply, which is important in a closed market such as the Balearics, he added.
He said that his government is in favour of an energy model which combines “development and progress with respect for the environment.” Reus praised the Balearic government for its bold planning of energy structures.
A steam turbine which will complete the first combined cycle of the Cas Tresorer power station will be incorporated next summer, bringing production up to 229 megawatts. The plant has been designed so that its capacity can be increased according to the demand.