Endesa rewards a Riojan SME for replacing fossil fuels with biomass

Endesa has awarded the Sustainability and Energy Efficiency Award to the company Industrias Cárnicas El Rasillo SA, for the investment made in the change of fuel, from diesel to biomass in its thermal facilities. Endesa has taken advantage of the Impulsando Pymes 2017 forum held in Logroño to present this recognition and disseminate, to representatives of SMEs and large companies, the advantages of investing in energy efficiency. Endesa's Northern Zone Business Sales Manager, Pablo Llopis, presented the award to the representative of Cárnicas El Rasillo, Raúl Portero Saiz, Plant Director.

A privileged environment

Located in a spectacular environment such as the Riojan mountains, Cárnicas El Rasillo is aware that its presence in this mountain town forces it to be especially careful with the environment. The environment is key since the winds of this area help dry the hams that are prepared here. Industrias Cárnicas El Rasillo acts accordingly, and in its business policy it also seeks constant environmental improvement and to be increasingly integrated with the forest that surrounds this company. The latest project they have tackled is the replacement of energy sources from fossil fuels with biomass.

The company awarded by Endesa had a heat production facility for manufacturing processes and for thermal use within the production centers and offices, which used diesel and propane, polluting energy sources, as fuels. Due to its desire to improve and its environmental awareness, the property decided to build a new thermal power plant to replace the energy source with renewable energy, in this case biomass.

These actions represent both an important environmental improvement brought about by the use of renewable energy and an increase in the performance of heat production equipment, as well as an increase in business competitiveness.

The result is one of the most modern facilities for making cured ham, which also has a direct influence on the market. In 2006, Industrias Cárnicas El Rasillo obtained authorization to export to the United States, being one of the first factories in Spain to achieve this.

Endesa, the only energy company in the forum, has created the Sustainability and Efficiency Award taking into account that in Spain there are almost 1.3 million SMEs that face the need to be more efficient every day. According to a study carried out by the company among more than 1,500 Spanish SMEs, 68% of companies have phantom consumption. The report also highlights that only 19% of the companies studied had implemented measures to improve energy efficiency while 3 out of 5 could save if they improved their energy contracting.