News
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27/12/2019
Núñez de Balboa completed: Iberdrola finalizes the construction of the largest photovoltaic plant in Europe within one year Europe's biggest photovoltaic plant has already been finalized. Iberdrola has completed in record time, in just one year, construction of the Núñez de Balboa project, which recently obtained its commissioning permit from the Ministry for Ecological Transition and for which Red Eléctrica de España (REE), the national grid, has started energisation tests. Based on these processes, the plant is forecast to start operations in the first quarter of 2020. With the completion of Núñez de Balboa, with an installed capacity of 500 megawatts (MW) and an investment of nearly 300 million euros, Iberdrola moves forward in its plan to relaunch green energy in Spain, which envisages the installation of 3,000 MW by 2022, with Extremadura at the centre of its strategy. Núñez de Balboa extends over an area of some 1,000 hectares (2,470 acres) straddling the municipalities of Usagre, Hinojosa del Valle and Bienvenida in the province of Badajoz. The plant, promoted in collaboration with Ecoenergías del Guadiana, is a flagship renewable project that has broken records: * Millions of components: with the installation of 1,430,000 solar panels,115 inverters and two substations involving delivery of a total of 3,200 containers. See more here * Job creation: it requires more than 1,200 employees during peak-work periods; 70% of them from Extremadura; See more here * Revitalising the industrial fabric: its construction has contributed to the development of the value chain, with purchases from some thirty suppliers, many of them local, worth 227 million euros. See more here * Action against climate change: the plant will generate clean energy to supply the needs of 250,000 people a year - equivalent to the populations of Cáceres and Badajoz combined - and will avoid the emission of 215,000 metric tons of CO2 into the atmosphere per year. See more here * Project funded by green financing: for its development, Iberdrola received green financing from the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Instituto de Crédito Oficial (ICO), Spain's state financial agency . See more here * Promoting sustainable consumption: A pioneer in Spain, with long-term Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) in place, the project will supply clean energy to major clients committed to sustainable consumption in the banking , telecommunications and retail sectors. * Education and training on renewables: Iberdrola and the Municipalities of Usagre and Llerena are working together on training students of the Campiña Sur Vocational School in Extremadura, with educational site visits and practical plant experience. See more here Another 1,300 MW in renewables in the pipeline in Extremadura Iberdrola has placed Extremadura at the centre of its renewable strategy in Spain, where it plans to install more than 2,000 MW of photovoltaic energy by 2022. In addition to Núñez de Balboa (500 MW), the company has more than 1,300 MW in renewables in six pipeline photovoltaic projects: Francisco Pizarro (590 MW), located in Torrecillas de la Tiesa; Ceclavín (328 MW), in Alcántara; Arenales (150 MW), in Cáceres; Campo Arañuelo I, II and III (150 MW), in the district of Almaraz; and Majada Alata and San Antonio (50 MW each), in Cedillo. Furthermore it has 300 MW grid access available with which to plan another photovoltaic project. Thanks to the regional administration’s agility in processing renewable projects, construction of the next plant, the Campo Arañuelo complex (Arañuelo I, II and III), with 150 MW, will be able to start in early 2020. This development, which could create another 200 jobs during its construction. has a high level of local involvement, the engineering and environmental works having been awarded to Badajoz-based Ecoenergías del Guadiana and the power transformers being supplied by Faramax, of Cáceres. The project also includes an energy storage system involving the use of an innovative battery. Plan to relaunch clean energy in Spain Iberdrola's plan to invest in renewable energies in Spain includes the installation of 3,000 new MW by 2022. By 2030, company forecasts point to the installation of 10,000 new MW. These actions will enable jobs to be created for 20,000 people. Currently, the company's projects in construction and at the detail design stage - wind and photovoltaic - amount to more than 4,000 MW in Extremadura, Castilla-La Mancha, Castilla y León, Navarre, Aragon, Murcia, Cantabria and Andalusia. In Spain, Iberdrola is the leader in renewable energies, with an installed capacity of 16,000 MW (over 30,300 MW worldwide), making its generation facilities some of the cleanest in the energy sector. Iberdrola's commitment to a decarbonised economic model has led it to earmark 10 billion euros a year for investment in renewable energies, smart electricity distribution networks and storage technologies, on top of the 100 billion already invested since 2001. READ MORE
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20/12/2019
Iberdrola's administrative director files a lawsuit against the alleged author of the internal report for defamation and libel Director of the Administration Department at Iberdrola, Pablo Insunza has filed a lawsuit at the courts of Bilbao against his prior subordinate and the ex-manager of Corporate Control, José Antonio del Olmo. The lawsuit accuses Del Olmo of defamation and libel with advertising. The lawsuit refers to two reports published by the online newspaper El Confidencial. The first on 3 December, with the headline ‘Iberdrola’s Internal Report Reveals a Murky Plot of Payments to “Get” Politicians’ which makes an alleged report on the company's relations with José Manuel Villarejo public. This report's purpose is to ‘inform the Administration, Control, and Regulation Management [...] about certain activities carried out by Corporate Security Management under the Human Resources and Services Area.’ The second report, on 18 December, was called ‘The Exec Who Pointed His Finger at Galan for Villarejo Confirms his Version after Iberdrola's Offensive’. This report refers to a meeting held by two Iberdrola executives, one of whom was Pablo Insunza, with Del Olmo, in which the executives supposedly encouraged him to deny the truth of the alleged internal report and to sign a statement denying the truthfulness of the report and the events it describes. Insunza claims in the lawsuit that he ‘never received a report like the one published’, that ‘its existence was never mentioned to him’, and that he was never informed of the events that the alleged document discusses. He believes that if he had received a report with those characteristics and had not acted it would have been in blatant non-compliance with all of Iberdrola's control systems, for which he was partially responsible, a neglect of his duties, and even more seriously, his knowledge of and participation in allegedly criminal conduct. With respect to the alleged meeting with Del Olmo, Insunza claims that he never met with him after the publication of the alleged report to discuss this matter or any other and, as such, he never asked his ex-subordinate to sign any document or statement, which would have been a ‘grossly libellous’ action for him. Bearing in mind the information published by El Confidencial and the fact that Del Olmo is the only person who recognises the authenticity of the alleged documents and the alleged meeting afterwards, it is reasonable to believe that he might be the author of the leaks to El Confidencial, making him directly responsible for public disclosure of statements that constitute crimes of libel and defamation against Pablo Insunza. Insunza demands Del Olmo recognise the falseness of the events published in El Confidencial, ask for forgiveness, and demand the media that published the reports to rectify them. Rectification letter to ‘El Confidencial’ At the same time, Pablo Insunza has sent a letter to El Confidencial requesting the exercise of the right of rectification under Organic Law 2/1984 of 26 March, which governs the right of rectification, in relation to the publication on 18 December 2019. Let this media outlet please be informed as well that the pertinent legal actions against José Antonio del Olmo have been filed. READ MORE
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19/12/2019
Iberdrola brings criminal proceedings against José Antonio Del Olmo before the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office Iberdrola has initiated criminal proceedings against its former employee José Antonio del Olmo, author of an alleged internal report accusing the company's management of ordering espionage and using false invoices, of which report the company has no record in its files. For this reason, Iberdrola's lawyers have sent a letter to the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office in Madrid requesting the opening of proceedings against Del Olmo for such crimes as mar arise from the prosecutor's investigation, but which the company considers susceptible of being classified as documentary falsehood, defamation and libel. Although the Bilbao Public Prosecutor's Office has already admitted a previous complaint filed by Iberdrola on 5 December to investigate the origin of the alleged internal report, the letter is now aimed directly against José Antonio del Olmo, who is accused of having an "obstructive attitude" to the investigation opened by the company itself. The company emphasises in its letter that the author of the alleged document appears to be the only one aware of it and that neither at the time of the alleged drafting - December 2004 - nor after the fact, has he filed a corresponding complaint with the competent authorities for the alleged irregularities of which he was supposedly aware. In fact, the alleged report is known about only because it was published by a digital newspaper, El Confidencial, in its editions of 2 and 3 December. Since that date, senior Iberdrola managers José Luis San Pedro, manager of Administration, Control and Regulation in 2004; Juan Carlos Rebollo, current manager of Administration and Control of Iberdrola, and Pablo Insunza, manager at the time of the events of the Department of General Administration and Corporation, have signed a declaration in which they state "the non-existence of the report and their total unawareness of it, since they do not remember having received it or having had knowledge of it either in 2004 or subsequently". The only person who has not wanted to collaborate with the internal investigation carried out by Iberdrola has been, precisely, its alleged author. Del Olmo has not only shown an absolute lack of willingness to cooperate in the clarification of the facts, but has also dedicated himself, for reasons that only he knows, to supposedly filtering information that either does not correspond to reality - the alleged Report - or is distorted, as reflected in the news article published in El Confidencial on 18 December last entitled "The manager who said that Galán had hired Villarejo reaffirms his version following Iberdola's offensive”. READ MORE
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19/12/2019
Iberdrola and the AECC renew their partnership and focus their efforts on research Iberdrola and the Spanish Cancer Association (AECC) have renewed their partnership until 2021, through a new collaboration agreement that will mainly focus on research for better diagnosis and cancer treatment. So explained Ángeles Santamaría, CEO of Iberdrola España, and Ignacio Muñoz Pidal, the president of the association, during a visit this morning to the company’s headquarters in Madrid. Iberdrola's collaboration with the AECC dates back to 2015, since then, the energy company has allocated almost 3 million euros in resources for publicity and awareness-raising activities to continue informing the public regarding the need to broaden research in this field. At the meeting, Ángeles Santamaría stressed “the importance of this collaboration to continue to help fight this disease, from those areas in which private initiative is most useful: raising awareness about prevention and healthy habits and providing resources to allow our researchers to make progress in furthering their knowledge of the disease and the treatments to tackle it. She also highlighted the involvement of the company’s employees and customers in initiatives that demonstrate the advantages of working together against cancer”. For his part, Ignacio Muñoz, stressed that “Iberdrola is a magnificent example of awareness in the fight against cancer as it combines, on the one hand, social support, through the commitment of its customers and business support, as the company doubles the amount that its customers contribute”. “What’s more, -the president of the Association continued-, this renewal means the support of a great company and is the perfect example of long-term commitment”. The Association is the organisation that currently allocates the most funds to researching the disease, with 70 million euros in 380 research projects under development since 2013. Customers, employees and the company, together against cancer One of the most innovative initiatives developed as part of this agreement is Together against Cancer, in which Iberdrola offers its customers the possibility of donating money to the Association, undertaking to double the amount that they donate monthly, through their electricity or gas bill. Since the launch of this campaign, in 2017, more than 86,000 of the company’s customers have been involved in the project, with Iberdrola and its customers contributing a total of 2.4 million euros to the AECC. Likewise, the company sponsors the AECC races that take place in Madrid, Murcia and Valladolid, the latter is the largest in Spain and it raises the most money for research. The company also organises activities on World Cancer Day and World Cancer Research Day and conducts talks, workshops and information campaigns to raise awareness among its employees, impacting on the prevention and importance of acquiring healthy lifestyle habits to minimise the impact of this disease. Research to improve understanding and increase survival The agreement signed by both parties today establishes that, henceforth, all the resources donated by the energy company will be devoted entirely to research and, more specifically, to the Study on Transformation and Resistance Mechanisms in Haematological Cancers, led by Dr. Jesús San Miguel at the Foundation for Applied Medical Research, in Navarra, in which researchers from the United Kingdom and Italy participate. The objective of this research, which will receive these resources over the next three years, with the possibility of a two-year extension, is to understand how the mechanism by which cells mutate into cancer cells works, allowing progress in early diagnosis and also to analyse the resistance mechanisms that these types of cancers have after treatment, ultimately leading to a relapse in patients with multiple myeloma, myeloblastic leukaemia and follicular lymphomas. Thanks to the research, there is currently a five-year survival rate of 53%, although the goal is to reach 70% by 2030. To achieve this we need to promote cancer research as a country which can only be done with the effort and collaboration of society as a whole. READ MORE
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18/12/2019
Iberdrola starts formalities to develop its first 350 MW photovoltaic plants in Castilla y León Iberdrola is continuing to invest in clean energy in Spain, and has just started processing the formalities for its first two photovoltaic projects in Castilla y León, which will be located in Ciudad Rodrigo (300 MW) and in Villarino (50 MW) in the province of Salamanca. These new solar plants will further establish Iberdrola’s leadership in Spain, particularly in Castilla y León, where it already manages more than 5,100 MW of hydraulic and wind plants, making this the company’s number-one region in terms of green megawatts installed. The photovoltaic plant in Ciudad Rodrigo, which is expected to be built in 2021, will consist of 826,200 solar panels and will create jobs for 800 workers at the height of the building activity. The company's investment in solar generation in this region will also include another photovoltaic plant (50 MW) in Villarino de los Aires and Trabanca, Salamanca. As well as these initiatives, Iberdrola has also secured grid access for a further 500 MW renewable power capacity, consisting of a large wind farm (300 MW) and a 200 MW photovoltaic plant. Renewable investment strategy in Spain Iberdrola's plan to invest in renewable energies in Spain includes the installation of 3,000 new MW by 2022. By 2030, company forecasts point to the installation of 10,000 new MW. These actions will enable jobs to be created for 20,000 people. At present, and with these processes under way, Iberdrola’s projects under construction or in the pipeline -wind and photovoltaic- in Spain total more than 4,000 MW in regions such as Extremadura, Castilla-La Mancha, Castilla y León, Navarra, Aragon, Andalusia, Murcia, Cantabria and Andalusia. In Castilla y León, Iberdrola operates more than 5,100 MW of hydraulic and wind generation facilities. Among its most recent activities in the region is the acquisition of the BaCa wind complex (Ballestas and Castona), with an installed capacity of 69.3 MW. These facilities have just come on stream and their output will provide clean energy to the equivalent of 25,200 homes per year, preventing the emission of 40,000 tonnes of CO2 a year. In Spain, Iberdrola is the leader wind developer -with an installed capacity of more than 5,800 MW- and renewable energy leader, with 16,000 MW installed (over 30,300 MW worldwide), making its generation fleet one of the cleanest in the energy sector. Iberdrola’s choice of a decarbonised economic model has entailed investments of almost €10bn euros a year around the world, having allocated almost €100bn in this area since 2001. READ MORE
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13/12/2019
Ignacio Galán meets with US climate change guru John Kerry at the COP25 in Madrid Iberdrola Chairman Ignacio Galán met with renowned climate change champion John Kerry, American politician and diplomat and a US presidential candidate in 2004, at the COP25 in Madrid today. During their exchange, Kerry asked about Iberdrola’s vision and strategy for decarbonising the economy between now and 2050. They discussed pivotal aspects such as the replacement of fossil fuels by renewables and the electrification of the economy, the role of hydrogen during the transition and the advances being made in storage and network efficiency. Galán explained that to achieve this leading position in the fight against climate change, Iberdrola has invested more than 100 billion dollars in the last two decades in renewables, smart grids and efficient storage. Our chairman also confirmed that the company will continue to invest in these activities at a rate of 10 billion dollars per year. They also reviewed the main energy projects that the Spanish company is building in the United States, where Iberdrola was recently awarded the contract to build the country’s largest offshore wind farm: the 804 MW Park City project in Connecticut. Iberdrola is already developing two offshore wind farms off the East Coast - Vineyard Wind and Park City, which together represent more than 1,600 MW. Another significant infrastructure development is the new NECEC interconnection line with Canada, that will cross the state of Maine to supply New England with hydroelectric power produced in Quebec. Kerry was impressed by Iberdrola’s progress in recent years, during which commercial success and sustainability have been successfully combined to make the group’s US subsidiary Avangrid the third-leading renewable business in the country. John Kerry, Secretary of State during Barack Obama's second term in office, had a vital role in the climate negotiations that culminated in the signature of the Paris Climate Agreement in April 2016. Kerry himself has defined this as the crowning moment of his career. He is a Democratic who, throughout his long political year, has always been a passionate defender of the environment. He was Senator for Massachusetts until 2013 and was a member of the US delegation at the first United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), also known as the Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit in 1992. He has attended all the climate conferences ever since. In November, John Kerry presented World War Zero, a coalition of global and military leaders advocating for immediate action to combat the climate crisis. Kerry believes that global warming is the overriding threat to the security of nations and he has set out to convince sceptics of the need to stop emissions from increasing before 2050. Meanwhile, S&P Platts recognised Iberdrola with the Energy Transition award last night, the only award not subject to nomination and based on an objective independent study. The award recognises the company’s commitment to reducing emissions and driving the decarbonisation of the economy by promoting clean energy. READ MORE
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12/12/2019
"The climate emergency is an opportunity" The chairman of Iberdrola, Ignacio Galán, has confirmed that “the climate emergency is an opportunity". He said this during a speech at the COP25, at the high level Getting climate neutrality by 2050 – We need to start now! event he attended with Executive Vice-President for the European Green Deal, Frans Timmermans; Director-General for Climate Action at the European Commission Mauro Petriccione; Teresa Ribera, Minister for the Ecological Transition, Spain, and Keit Pentus-Rosimannus, member of the Riigikogu, Estonia. Ignacio Galán talked of the European Commission’s role as a leader in climate matters and the ambitious nature of the Green Deal recently presented to the European Parliament. The group's chairman also remarked: “Some countries tax renewable energies twice as much as coal”, adding that “there is a need to take urgent action now”. “We must transform commitments and objectives into specific actions and results, which will not be achieved by 2050 if we do not start working on the targets for 2030”, he concluded. READ MORE
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11/12/2019
Iberdrola advances towards zero emissions in Europe by 2030 Iberdrola's Chairman and CEO, Ignacio Galán, stated today that the company will have virtually zero emissions in Europe by 2030 and maintained the commitment to achieve global emissions neutrality by 2050. The commitment was made to the Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, during his speech at the high-level meeting 'Caring for Climate', organized by the UN Global Compact at COP25. During his participation in the panel 'Our only future - the Role of the Private Sector in Reaching 1,5°C and Net-Zero', Galán discussed the company’s strategy to support the transition to a low-carbon economy, which began 20 years ago. As it stands today, Iberdrola’s emissions are a quarter of those of its European competitors. "Our commitment to renewable energy means we have already reached a level of zero emissions in many of the countries where we operate, such as the United Kingdom, Germany or Portugal," explained Galán. To reach this leadership position, Iberdrola has invested more than 100 billion dollars since 2001 in new renewable energy, smart grids and efficient storage and the company will continue to devote more than $10 billion per year to these activities. The investment has allowed the company to grow globally and become a world leader in wind power, network digitization and green finance. Ignacio Galán stated that Iberdrola's model shows that the transition to a green, low-carbon economy is a source of opportunities. He said: "We have supported transformation in intensive industries that were in decline, such as shipyards, and encouraged the launch of entirely new companies, like some of those working with us to deliver smart meters or components for photovoltaic plants or offshore wind farms." In this transition, the electricity sector, responsible for 25% of emissions, plays a key role: it is necessary to replace polluting technologies with renewable energy while promoting the electrification of other industries such as transport and heating. Galán also reiterated the need to take immediate action, in line with the ethos of COP25. "The energy transition is feasible. We have the necessary technology at an affordable cost, but we have little time. The time for action is now", said Galán. He added: "As the European Commission says, this is an opportunity for an industrial renaissance, creating jobs and wellbeing for everyone". Iberdrola against climate change Almost two decades ago Iberdrola identified that climate change was a real challenge for human kind that required urgent action, and understood that the electricity sector was key to providing solutions to combat this global problem. Following the approval of the Paris Agreement in 2015, and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for 2030, Iberdrola incorporated the goals in to its business strategy and corporate governance system. Aligned with activities, the company focuses their efforts on climate action (SDG 13) and on the supply of affordable and non-polluting energy (SDG 7). In the context of COP25, Iberdrola reiterates its commitment to a climate scenario fully aligned with a maximum temperature rise of 1.5°C and with an adequate framework of working conditions and fair transition for decarbonisation. Both commitments were formalised in September when the company signed two pledges proposed by Governments and organisations at the United Nations Climate Action Summit (UN Global Compact, BTeam and Spanish Government). READ MORE
