i-DE, Iberdrola España's distribution company, brings its facilities closer to undergraduates of the University of León

• This initiative aims to promote and show the company's activity to future professionals in the sector

A group of 20 undergraduates in their final year of Energy Engineering and Electrical Engineering at University of León, visited the Eras de Renueva transformer substation of i-DE, Iberdrola España’s energy distributor, located in the capital city of León.

Eras de Renueva, which is located in a compact building that minimises visual impact, both due to its design and the fact that the entrances and exits of the power lines are buried underground, has a 40 megavoltampere (MVA) transformer whose function is to convert electrical energy from high voltage – 132 Kilovolts (KV) – to medium voltage – 13.8 KV –. This transformer is capable of supplying power to 28,000 customers in the northwest of the city. 

During the visit, the undergraduates took a masterclass given by the head of i-DE's UTS León - Zamora, Gregorio Grande, who explained the operation of the different substation equipment, auxiliary services, control, protections and transformers, as well as all aspects related to maintenance and the environment.

Grande, accompanied by Roberto Martínez, auxiliary substation technician, showed the students at the Eras de Renuevas substation the standards to follow in order to identify an electrical installation, its topology, basic concepts in electricity, the effects of current on the human body and practices for occupational risk prevention. 

The visit aimed to provide the undergraduates with a technical overview of a substation, as well as to learn about maintenance and safety operations and work organisation, to promote and show the company's activity to future professionals in the sector. The students were also able to clear up their doubts about the operation of the facility, which is owned by Iberdrola España.

Clean energy for a healthy planet

i-DE is immersed in a process of digitalisation of the electricity distribution network that will allow more information to establish energy efficiency and sustainability standards –  and will do so by committing to ambitious and urgent climate action. 

The deployment of the smart grid will make it possible to include the 'neural trace' of the grid to offer a better service to citizens. In addition to Iberdrola España's commitment to the decarbonisation of the economy and its substantial investments in innovation and renewable technologies, its climate action plan seeks to actively foster a culture that promotes the efficient and responsible use of energy and to boost climate awareness-raising in the broadest sense.

In Castilla y León, where i-DE manages more than 50,000 km of power lines, has 15,697 operating transformer stations and 246 substations. The company maintains a level of quality service in the region above the national average, with the best forecast value in history at the end of the year.