Endesa and ASCER renew electricity supply agreement

With a market share year-to-date of 40%, Endesa is further cementing its status as Spain's leading electricity supplier.

Endesa and ASCER (the Spanish Association of Ceramic Tile Manufacturers) have renewed their framework agreement, establishing new economic and service conditions for the supply of electricity to ASCER member companies.

The agreement, which also covers the members of ANFFECC (National Association of Ceramic Frits, Glazes and Ceramic Pigments) and ASEBEC (Spanish Manufacturers of Machinery for the Ceramics Industry), was signed by the president of ASCER, Joaqun Pin, and the account manager for Price and Demand at Endesa, Juan Jos Muoz. Nearly 234 companies throughout Spain with annual consumption of over 1,000 GWh will benefit from the agreement.

The agreement is valid until 31 December 2012, extending the pact originally signed in November 2006. Over the last five years, this arrangement has enabled the ceramics industry power to receive electricity at highly competitive and stable prices..

In addition, the agreement entails various innovative price schemes that will enable ceramics makers to become even more cost competitive.

This deal is in addition to the one signed by ASCER and Endesa last April for the supply of natural gas to ASCER members which remains in force until December 2012 and means Endesa will remain the key energy supplier for the Spanish ceramics industry in 2012.

Elsewhere, Endesa and ASCER have developed lines of action that are providing ASCER affiliates with tools for boosting efficiency and achieving energy savings. Since 2007, Endesa has carried out over forty energy audits for ASCER members and will again offer this service in conjunction with the assistance programmes offered by the Valencia Energy Agency.

This energy audit work has yielded promising RDI initiatives and Endesa is currently working on heat recovery projects for sector companies that are expected to cut overall energy consumption by around 20%. Endesa and ASCER are also working together to optimise co-generation by association members. This agreement highlights once again the bargaining power wielded by ASCER on behalf of the Spanish ceramics industry in energy matters which are vital to the sector's future.

Under the scope of these energy agreements, Endesa will also sponsor the Tile of Spain Awards for Architecture and Interior Design organised by Ascer and the association's Network of Ceramic Tile Studies Departments, in particular the collaboration with the University of Alicante with a focus on sustainable construction and restoration.

Meanwhile, the deal guarantees Endesa reasonable medium-term remuneration on the generation assets it plans to earmark to supply the ceramics industry, while bolstering its position as leading power supplier in Spain, where it boasts a year-to-date market share of 40%.

ASCER represents over 98% of Spanish ceramic production. In 2010 a total of 178 countries accounted for 68.5% of the Spanish ceramic tile and paving manufacturing industry's sales. The sector's aggregate turnover stood at 2.59 billion. The ceramics industry is the second biggest contributor to the Spanish trade balance (1.65 billion) with exports exceeding imports by almost 2,000%, and in 2010 its exports represented almost 1% of the Spanish total. It is one of the finest examples of industry clustering in Spain and indeed Europe. The nature of the industry, its economic and social importance within the region, its ability to innovate and grow and its global leadership make the Castellón ceramic cluster a benchmark for a unique, competitive and sustainable industry at the heart of Europe.