As a main part of the electric power distribution infrastructure and a product of the development of the medium and low voltage networks necessary for the distribution of electric power within cities, the concrete poles supporting cables are commonly used.
Being installed directly in the city streets, they are easily damaged for various reasons, and / or ending their life, making their use impossible and consequently, they must be replaced. This situation annually generates the disposal of more than 4 thousand concrete poles in sanitary landfills on average from said poles.
In order to avoid the final disposal of this waste, since 2021 Enel has developed a project seeking to give concrete a second life. For this same reason, the reuse of this material for manufacturing new poles and / or the generation of stabilizing material for high voltage civil works will be evaluated technically and economically.
Towards the development of the pilot for this project, Enel will work together with different partners located in the Metropolitan Region. On the one hand, through an accredited certifying laboratory analysis such as Dictuc, the quality of the materials, the manufacturing tests and the mechanical tests are to be determined, in order to define the correct percentage of recycled material that could be used in the manufacture of new poles. Then, an aggregates company will crush the concrete from the poles and the Dictuc Laboratory will carry out the corresponding tests so that finally, the Enel pole supplier company will be in charge of manufacturing the new poles with recycled materials.
This project will allow Enel to recover 100% of the concrete going to the sanitary landfill and at least 80% of the steel making up the posts. At the same time, this will prevent a significant percentage of the cost associated with the final disposal of these materials and will reduce the cost associated with the purchase of aggregates for the manufacture of poles and stabilizing materials.
This project reincorporates concrete in new processes after its life, therefore, responding to the Circular Economy pillar "New Life Cycles", to the innovation pillar "Operational Efficiency" and contributing to SDG12: "Responsible Production and Consumption" and SDG 13: “Climate Change”.