News
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23/01/2025"How can Europe be more independent? We have wind, hydro, solar and nuclear energy", says Ignacio Galán at Davos Iberdrola's Executive Chairman, Ignacio Galán , advocated for the need to maintain nuclear energy in Europe during his intervention on a live panel at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos . In his opinion, to be energy self-sufficient and independent, the continent must have clean technologies: "We have wind, hydroelectric, solar and nuclear energy", but no gas and little oil. Moreover, renewables are competitive and new installations are cheaper to build than the ones that require fossil fuels. "We have proven, at least with the nuclear power plants that are already in operation, that they are safe, efficient and absolutely necessary to keep the lights on at a time when new demand is growing, like data centres that require stable supply 24 hours a day, seven days a week," he said. During his speech on the panel entitled The Importance of Climate Technology, in the section Industries in the Intelligent Age, the Executive Chairman of Iberdrola said that electrification is the ‘best and fastest way to decarbonise the economy ’. Galán has generally defended a new drive for electrification in the European Union so as not to be left behind not only by the United States, but also by China. He warned that "in Europe we fly the flag for the green economy" but "we are behind some of the countries that we have criticised the most, such as China", which has made notable progress in electrification. READ MORE
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23/01/2025 - 13:54 UTC +01:00The World Economic Forum chooses Neoenergia's School of Electricians in Brazil as a model of diversity, equity and inclusion The Electricians School for women of Neoenergia , Iberdrola's subsidiary in Brazil, has been chosen by the World Economic Forum (WEF) as one of the eight great international success stories in diversity, equity and inclusion, and an inspirational model for other organisations. In its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Lighthouses insight report 2025, the Forum distinguishes Iberdrola as one of the eight lighthouses, or Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Lighthouses, for the initiative launched and developed by its Brazilian subsidiary. Among the aspects highlighted by the agency is the evolution of female representation in the annual electrician hires, from 1.7% in 2019 to 36.4% in 2024, and that 76% of the graduates of the training programme have secured stable employment with a full benefits package (including medical and dental insurance, childcare and school care, and life insurance). The initiative, which is part of the Forum's annual Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Lighthouse programme, represents an effort to identify and make visible impactful projects that are effective in promoting diversity, equity and inclusion, making it possible to make faster progress in organisations and public bodies based on shared knowledge. The eight lighthouses were selected by a panel of independent experts for their demonstrated impact (significant, scalable, measurable and sustained for one or more under-represented groups) and their ability to inspire others. International example Previously, the school had already been recognised as a global example by WeEmpower, a programme of UN Women together with the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the European Union. The School of Electricians for Women opened its doors in 2013. In total, more than 1,000 professional women have already been trained through this project. The initiative was pioneering in the electrical sector by creating classes exclusively for women to promote diversity and inclusion. In total, the Electricians School has already trained more than 6,000 people. Free of charge, it is present in all the states where Neoenergia has an electricity distribution concession. The classes have a classroom and a hands-on component for 360º student training. Anyone over 18 with a high school degree and a National Driving Licence (CNH) can enrol. Investing in Brazil Iberdrola reaffirmed its commitment to Brazil in 2024, announcing an investment of more than €7 B by 2028. Neoenergia is the country's leading distributor and is present in 18 states and the country's federal district. The company supplies electricity to more than 40 million Brazilians, has almost 730,000 kilometres of power lines and is divided into five electricity distributors: Neoenergia Coelba (BA), Neoenergia Pernambuco (PE), Neoenergia Cosern (RN), Neoenergia Elektro (SP/MS) and Neoenergia Brasília (DF). READ MORE
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22/01/202560% of our investment is address to electricity grid, assured Ignacio Galán in CNBC An interview with Ignacio Galán, Executive Chairman of Iberdrola, at the World Economic Forum in Davos featured on CNBC. The piece highlighted Iberdrola’s strategic focus on grids, the enabler of electrification, where 60% of Iberdrola’s investment has been committed, and the critical role grid development plays in meeting increasing demand. On the US, where the company has had a presence for 20 years, Mr Galán reinforced that 80% of Iberdrola’s business in the country is electricity grids and there continues to be huge growth prospects and need for investment. He said Iberdrola has increased its presence and investment under previous governments, including under the previous Trump administration, and expressed optimism about the future. READ MORE
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22/01/2025Ignacio Galán in Davos: ‘Electrification is the revolution of the 21st century’ The Chairman of Iberdrola, Ignacio Galán, stated in an interview with the prestigious Spanish business daily Expansión, on the occasion of his speech at the Davos 2025 World Economic Forum, that all growth industries ‘are going to need more and more electricity’, to which is added ‘the electrification of transport and domestic uses in heating and electrification’. And, he adds, to make this possible, grids are essential. This translates into an imminent need for investment in networks, ‘especially in the US and the UK’, to ensure Iberdrola's ‘present and future’ growth. ‘Our largest network assets are already in those two countries, followed by Brazil and Spain.’ You can read the full interview in: Ignacio Galán: ‘It is possible to grow and pay a higher dividend to shareholders every year’ | Energy (Spanish version) READ MORE
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21/01/2025 - 19:26 UTC +01:00Ignacio Galán argues the importance of electrification in Davos The Chairman of Iberdrola, Ignacio Galán , is attending the Davos Forum, as he has been doing for the past seventeen years, where he will hold various high-level meetings and defend the leading role of electricity in the new energy landscape. For five days, the Swiss town will host the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum , which this year will be held under the slogan “Collaboration for the Intelligent Age”. An event with the aim of working together to rebuild trust and shape the principles, policies and partnerships needed to meet the challenges of 2025. READ MORE
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20/01/2025 - 13:21 UTC +01:00Edison Electric Institute highlights the performance of Avangrid crews in extreme storms in the United States Avangrid , Iberdrola's subsidiary in the United States, has been recognised internationally for its response to the emergencies due to the extreme storms that occurred on the East Coast in 2024. The Edison Electric Institute highlighted the rapid and immediate work of two of the company's distributors in the country, New York State Electric & Gas (NYSEG) and Central Maine Power (CMP), to restore electricity service after Tropical Storm Debby in August and heavy snowfall in Maine in April. During Tropical Storm Debby, which brought high wind gusts, flooding rains to much of the East Coast, and even tornadoes between 5 and 9 August, the company deployed more than 1,300 workers to restore service to the more than 100,000 customers left without power. Meanwhile, the heavy snow and frost that hit Maine on 4 April 2024 left more than 270,000 customers without power across the state. Snow loads on trees along with high winds were the main causes of damage. More than 1,100 crews were involved in the major restoration effort that included damage assessments, tree felling and repairs to electrical infrastructure. Emergency response Iberdrola's main priority in any storm, with its customers and with the communities in which it operates, is to restore the power as quickly as possible . In Spain, Iberdrola recently stood out for its work in the aftermath of the cold drop in the southeast of the country. With more than 180,000 people left without power, the company mobilised more than 500 workers in the affected areas of Valencia, 200 of them the first day. The company's rapid action and response with all the resources at its disposal, including the installation of more than 120 generators, made it possible to recover approximately 90% of the affected electricity supply in just 48 hours, and in just over 72 hours all residents had the lights back on. The company announced this week that it will invest €100 M to redesign the Valencian distribution grid with the il.lumina project , which will benefit more than 650,000 customers. More than 1,000 workers from contracting companies, coordinated by an internal team of 35 people, will be responsible for building an even more robust, automated, digitalised and resilient grid, prepared for possible extreme events that may occur in the future. You can read the full story in Avangrid's News Room. READ MORE
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17/01/2025 - 13:10 UTC +01:00Iberdrola obtains international 'Top Employers Enterprise' seal of approval for its excellence in people management, the only energy company in the world to do so The 'Top Employers' seal is a certification based on an exhaustive and rigorous analysis of people management practices and metrics and their impact on the organisation as a whole (strategy and results), as well as on talent engagement, attraction and development. Iberdrola was certified in Spain, United Kingdom, United States, Brazil, Mexico, Germany, France, Italy, Australia and Greece. It is unusual for a company to obtain this recognition in so many countries, thanks to which Iberdrola will have both European and international certification and be the only company in the industry to have this international 'enterprise' seal. The company was assessed in 225 of its practices, distributed across 20 categories and six dimensions that include people strategy, talent attraction, training, professional development and growth, leadership, well-being and diversity and inclusion. Only those practices that have been implemented with at least 80% of the workforce have been considered "consistent" (or "scoreable"), which demonstrates not only the seal’s requirements, but also the robustness of the people policies implemented in the different countries. Each local certification, importantly, is independent, i.e. Iberdrola has passed 10 different certifications, with each country having to justify and explain each of them within its own strategy and analysing local impacts and scope in each geography. Founded 30 years ago, the Top Employers Institute has certified more than 2,300 organisations in 121 countries, impacting more than 12 M employees around the world. None of Iberdrola's international competitors has so many certified countries. Only one other company in Europe besides the electricity company, and only on the continent, has a similar certification. Furthermore, Amadeus, Santander, Inditex, Meliá and Iberdrola are the only Ibex companies with certification in Europe. READ MORE
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16/01/2025 - 14:16 UTC +01:00Iberdrola España invests €100 M to redesign the power grid affected by the severe weather event in Valencia Iberdrola España presented in Valencia the il.lumina project, in which it is going to invest €100 M to redesign the distribution grid affected by the severe weather event on 29 October in the province. The CEO of Iberdrola España, Mario Ruiz-Tagle, accompanied by Eva Mancera, the CEO of i-DE, Iberdrola’s distribution company, detailed the company's investment plan and steps taken so far. In the words of Mario Ruiz-Tagle, "although the company, despite enormous difficulties, was able to get practically all electricity back online in under 72 hours, our priority now is to look to the future and to have an even more efficient distribution grid". For the Iberdrola executive, "the agile performance of the more than 500 workers mobilised from different parts of Spain and the investment in grid technology we’ve made in recent years were decisive in those exceptional circumstances". The company has now created a team of 35 people who are dedicated exclusively to the il.lumina project, which is divided into five operational areas under the same management and has seven support areas to coordinate the work of the approximately 1,000 contractors who will be needed, most of whom will be locally based. The creation of a department dedicated exclusively to this plan is allowing i-DE to continue developing the rest of its investments in the Valencia Region normally. Iberdrola began the different phases of the project at the end of 2024 with the recovery of the 132 kilovolt (kV) high voltage infrastructure in the Catadau and Carlet area and has already gathered all the material necessary to carry out the project, both in terms of transformation centres and the low and medium voltage grid, as well as substations. Its plan is to reach 90% of the project's execution in 2025 and to complete it in 2026. Resilience measures Eva Mancera also emphasised that electricity was brought back online in record time after the floods thanks to human and technical resources. She added that this new grid "will be even more robust and resilient, prepared for extreme phenomena that may occur in the future and will be implemented in a few months thanks to the creation of a specific project team that will allow i-DE to continue developing the rest of its investments in the Valencia region". To build the electricity distribution grid of the future, the company will incorporate resilience measures into infrastructures that involve design changes in assets and will equip them with the latest digitalisation standards that will benefit 650,000 customers, all in coordination with the actions carried out by the public administrations The level of installation automation will be increased and new smart transformers (i-trafo) will be incorporated, which will improve supply quality, overhead power lines will be buried, and transformer substations will be raised and compacted. To minimise disruption in the municipalities where work is already underway, i-DE has improved scheduled outage notifications and is implementing special measures like the installation of generators and night-time work. In addition, the agreement between the company and the Valencian Government, through the Regional Ministry of Innovation and Industry, continues to be in force, under which it is working with the Valencian Metallurgical Business Federation (FEMEVAL) to send brigades of electrical installers to the buildings and private homes affected by the severe weather event, which are responsible for checking and repairing electrical installations and checking electrical panels, as well as addressing any needs that may arise in towns to restore public lighting. Fast performance The cold drop on 29 October in the province of Valencia resulted in approximately 180,000 customers losing electricity in l'Horta Sud, Catadau-Carlet and Requena-Utiel-Buñol. From the outset, i-DE mobilised approximately 500 people from both Valencia and other regions in the rest of Spain to restore service and repair the affected installations as soon as they could access them. More than 200 people travelled on the first day (in-house and contractors) from outside the province of Valencia to provide support both in the field and to reinforce and relieve the staff operating the control centres, who had been cut off. The company's rapid action and mobilisation of all the resources at its disposal, including the installation of more than 120 generators, made it possible to recover approximately half of affected electricity supply in just 24 hours, 85% within 48 hours and in just over 72 hours practically everything had been restored. READ MORE
