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Iberdrola España recognises four villages in Castilla y León for promoting rural development
- Castrojeriz, Astudillo, Pedrosa del Río Urbel and Pedrosa del Príncipe have been awarded by the platform 'Vente a Vivir a un Pueblo' (Come Live in a Small Town), together with the company, in a ceremony attended by the mayors, the president of the Provincial Council and the Iberdrola España representative in Castilla and León
- They were recognised for their efforts to revitalise rural environments and the use of renewable energies to boost local economies
Presentation of the 'Villages with a Future' Awards in Castrojeriz (Burgos)
This morning, the municipality of Castrojeriz in Burgos hosted the presentation of the ‘Pueblos con Futuro’ (Towns with a Future) awards given by the platform to combat depopulation called 'Come Live in a Small Town' and by Iberdrola España in recognition of their efforts to revitalise rural areas and the use of renewable energies as a way of boosting local economies. The award winners were the towns of Castrojeriz, Pedrosa del Río Urbel and Pedrosa del Príncipe in Burgos, and Astudillo in Palencia.
The event was attended by the president of the Council of Burgos, Borja Suárez, and the mayors of each of these municipalities that have shown the effort they are making to attract new residents, highlighting the importance of the natural resources that these rural areas have for the economic development of their towns.
The representative of Iberdrola España in Castilla and León, Miguel Calvo, stressed that ‘Iberdrola España promotes renewable energies as a driver for rural development and in this way the towns emerge as a guarantee for the future with numerous initiatives based on green principles that drive business and their population’.
The awards were collected by the councillors of Castrojeriz, Beatriz Francés, Astudillo, Luis Santos, Pedrosa del Río Urbel, Óscar Alonso, and Pedrosa del Príncipe, Víctor Escribano, who acknowledged the recognition and agreed that renewable energies are essential to promote energy independence in Spain and to fight climate change. These new green investments, with respect for the environment, are driving towns such as these due to the economic benefits they bring to rural areas.
The province of Burgos is a treasure trove for renewable energies. José Luis Martin, Head of Development for Iberdrola Renovables in Burgos, explained that all the projects in this province ‘coexist with agriculture and livestock farming while respecting the environment, which is fundamental for Iberdrola España’.
At the round table following the awards ceremony, led and presented by the journalist and creator of the platform ‘Come Live in a Small Town’, Ramón Pradera, the opinions of two entrepreneurs with innovative businesses that generate wealth in the area, acting as drivers of the local economy, were shared: Ana Peiro, owner of Hotel Iacobus in Castrojeriz and Juan José Medina, owner of the country cottage El Rincón del Chef.
The Towns with a Future award involves the production of a promotional video of each of the winning municipalities for ‘Come Live in a Small Town', the most modern and complete platform to encourage urbanites to settle in the country. Together with the promotional video, the residents of these towns will be able to use other tools such as job, housing and transfer exchanges, free online training in new technologies and a marketplace to list local services and products.
Castilla y León reaffirms its leadership in renewables energies
Iberdrola España reaffirms its innovative and renewable leadership in Castilla y León, which is consolidating its position as an important centre for clean energy developments in the company's investment cycle to 2025, where it already operates more than 6,000 megawatts (MW), making it the autonomous community with the most green megawatts installed by the company. It also promotes renewable energies as a driver of rural development and in this way the towns emerge as a guarantee for the future, contributing to sustainable recovery and creating local jobs.
It is immersed in the construction of the Iglesias wind farm and has recently commissioned Buniel (104 MW), Iberdrola España's most powerful wind farm in the country to date. Its blades are more than 70 metres long and the height of the wind turbines is twice that of the Burgos Cathedral, it generates enough clean energy to supply the equivalent of 70,000 homes a year and will prevent the release of 39,000 tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere a year. Each machine has a unit power of 5.2 MW, more than seven times greater than the first wind turbines installed in Spain more than two decades ago. In the province of Burgos alone, the company has recently built or is building more than 650 megawatts across eight wind farms.
Iberdrola España is currently commissioning two photovoltaic facilities in the region totalling 400 MW: Velilla and Virgen de Areños III. It also started up its first photovoltaic plant in the province of Burgos in the region, Revilla-Vallejera (50 MW), and has completed construction of the first hybrid wind and solar photovoltaic plant in Spain. In addition, the Villarino photovoltaic plant (50 MW) in Salamanca is now fully operational and, after obtaining the environmental green light, the construction of the Ciudad Rodrigo photovoltaic project is progressing at a good pace.
Iberdrola España is promoting solutions in its renewable energy projects that favour coexistence with different activities related to agriculture, livestock and horticulture, improving the efficiency and competitiveness of the facilities, the use of the land and the protection of biodiversity.
A sustainable energy model
Iberdrola España is committed to a sustainable energy model in harmony with nature and people. This model is underpinned by two main objectives: to achieve zero net emissions in all scopes by 2040 and to have a net positive impact on biodiversity by 2030.
The company has launched the Convive Programme which includes a multitude of measures to make renewable installations fully compatible with biodiversity, agriculture, livestock farming and even beekeeping. For example, some photovoltaic installations have become real biodiversity refuges, which have even given endangered species suitable places to live (e.g. free of pesticides and disturbances).
In addition, at the recently recognised plant in Burgos, Revilla Vallejera, 600 sheep graze daily on the grounds of this facility, a clear example of integration of renewables, nature and the local economy. ‘Solar grazing’ benefits the livestock farmers, who gain new spaces for their work, it is positive for the plant, as it ensures the environmental maintenance of the land and reduces the risk of fires, and it benefits the animals, which, in addition to access to food, find protection from the sun, rain and wind under the solar panels.
