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27/04/2020Renewable energies against coronavirus: wind turbines from a new Iberdrola wind project in Spain arrive at the Port of Bilbao Renewables may be one of the key levers in reviving economic activity and employment in times marked by the coronavirus and building a new model around 'green' principles. This morning, after travelling 20,000 km and passing all the sanitary controls, the 42 wind turbine blades that will form part of Iberdrola's new project in Spain, the Puylobo Wind Farm, which is being built in Aragon, have been unloaded at the Port of Bilbao. The company received this component, manufactured by Siemens Gamesa in China for planning reasons, while completing the civil work on the wind farm, supported by local suppliers, and the rest of the wind turbine elements: towers, nacelles/hubs, generators, multiplier and transformers are manufactured in facilities in Asturias, Cantabria, Soria and Burgos. Located in the municipalities of Borja and Mallén, in Zaragoza, Puylobo will have fourteen SG 3.4-132 wind turbines; a model with a 64.5 m long blade, optimal for medium and high wind locations. With an investment of 50 million euros, more than 120 professionals will be involved in its construction. The farm's production, once it enters into operation this year, will supply clean energy to a population equivalent to 20,000 homes per year and will prevent 32,000 tons of CO2 emissions per year. Star-guided voyage The heavy transport ship ZHI XIAN ZHI XING set sail from the port of Qinhuangdao, in China, on 7 March, and on its journey to Spain passed along the coast of Vietnam, crossed the straits from Singapore and Malacca, crossed the Gulf of Bengal towards Sri Lanka and the Laccadive Sea, going up the west coast of India to cross the Arabian Sea to enter the Gulf of Aden and then the Red Sea. After crossing the Suez Canal, it entered the Mediterranean Sea. It then crossed Gibraltar Strait, travelling along the coast of Portugal and then the coast of Cantabria, to the Port of Bilbao. The Puylobo Wind Farm adds to twelve other renewable projects that Iberdrola is currently building in Spain –including a photovoltaic plant in Teruel, Aragon– and is part of the investment plan initiated by the company that provides for the installation of 3,000 MW of wind and photovoltaic by 2022. By 2030, forecasts suggest the installation of 10,000 MW. These actions will enable jobs to be created for 20,000 people in Spain. Economic revival, industrial fabric and employment based on renewable technologies Convinced that electrification will act as a lever for change in the post-coronavirus world, the company is preparing to accelerate its investments and thus contribute to reviving economic activity and employment. Iberdrola plans to make investments worth 10 billion euros worldwide this year. This volume of resources –double that of the previous year– will mobilise projects, the industrial activity of the value chain and innovation in areas such as renewable energy, smart grids and large-scale storage systems. Coinciding with the emergence of the coronavirus during the first quarter, Iberdrola advanced orders to suppliers worth almost 4 billion euros; 75% of them during March. Of the orders placed in the first three months of the year, 24% were made to companies within Spain, i.e. more than 940 million euros. In Spain, Iberdrola is the leader in renewable energies, with installed wind capacity of more than 6,000 MW and over 16,500 MW in renewables out of a total of 32,350 MW worldwide, which makes its generation facilities among the cleanest in the energy sector. READ MORE
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23/04/2020Positive Energy+ has received nearly 400 innovative submissions to help mitigate the financial and social repercussions of coronavirus The Positive Energy+ platform has received 396 submissions in just 13 days to help lessen the financial and social impact of COVID-19. Driven by various companies in the energy sector, the urgent call for projects was launched on 7 April, giving start-ups and scale-ups until Sunday 19 April to submit their proposals. The aim of this initiative – the first of its kind in Spain – was to seek out projects linked to environmental sustainability, mobility, social impact, digitisation, ICTs and industry 4.0, all with a focus on energy. The ‘decarbonisation and sustainability’ category received the highest number of submissions. Out of all the projects sent in, 140 were entered by start-ups in their early stages (with an annual turnover of under €5,000), 217 came from more advanced start-ups (turning over €5,000 to €1 million a year), and 39 were submitted by scale-ups (companies with a turnover of more than €1 million in 2019). Over 85% of the projects presented are Spanish, while 51 of them were put forward by entrepreneurs from countries such as France, Belgium, Switzerland, Chile and Canada. The projects are currently being assessed and shortlisted. In the first week of May, following a series of interviews with the aspiring start-ups and scale-ups, the terms and conditions of the agreements for investment, support or acceleration between companies and entrepreneurs will be revealed, along with a public announcement of the selected projects. The plan is for them to start working as from mid-May on developing and implementing their projects over a one-year period, according to the established schedule. This initiative, driven by Enagás, Red Eléctrica, CLH, Iberdrola, BP, EIT InnoEnergy and Acciona, has recently been joined by Capital Energy and Disa. It has also involved the collaboration of institutions such as Startup Olé, ASCRI, El Referente and Socios Inversores, and more recently Byld, Everis, Dentons, PKF Attest innCome and Pons IP. Each of the companies will support at least one start-up/scale-up by financing the project’s development and/or offering their innovation, investment, commercial development and structural tools to help them. Under this joint project, the various corporations involved have teamed up to leverage their corporate ventures and innovation in an effort to contribute towards Spain’s financial and social recovery in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis and support the entrepreneurial ecosystem. For full information about Positive Energy+, click here . READ MORE
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21/04/2020Iberdrola encourages 1,000 volunteers to work on social initiatives to address the COVID crisis in Spain Since the State of Alarm was declared in Spain in response to the coronavirus pandemic, Iberdrola has managed to engage 1,000 employees in volunteer work across the country. Under the name ‘Volunteers against COVID ’, the campaign has volunteers collaborating selflessly from home in over 20 different projects to help deal with the health crisis. For weeks now, a significant number of employees have been collaborating to make protective gear, provide company and support for those most severely affected by this crisis such as the aged and people with disabilities, and make financial donations to help vulnerable people at risk of exclusion. The initiatives promoted by Iberdrola involved making face masks, some of which were designed specially for people with hearing loss, producing face shields with 3D printers, setting up correspondence between volunteers and elderly citizens in nursing homes, donating electronic devices, providing support over the phone for people with disabilities or mental conditions, and telling stories for children and adults with intellectual disabilities. Making face masks for the health crisis Working in collaboration with the Foundation to Foster Development and Integration (FDI), Iberdrola has put into action an inclusive project to produce accessible masks for people with hearing loss. The key to these masks is that they enable lip reading, helping the wearer to communicate. The company sent out production kits to 150 volunteers containing the materials and instructions needed to make them. Different federations then send the masks to people with hearing loss. By doing this, Iberdrola expects to provide 5,000 face masks. Another health-related initiative involves the company putting together and supporting an internal network of volunteers to make regular face masks and face shields using 3D printers, which are being distributed among hospitals, retirement homes and nursing homes for people with intellectual disabilities. Link to compressed images: Iberdrola volunteer video tutorial on making face masks and Iberdrola volunteer video tutorial on making face shields using 3D printers . Supporting the elderly and people with disabilities - the most vulnerable Other initiatives have been set up to support the aged and people with intellectual disabilities, these being two of the most severely affected segments of society during the lockdown. The programme named Smiles against coronavirus, launched by the FDI and the Voluntariado y Estrategia consultancy firm, aims to ease the sense of loneliness among elderly people in retirement homes whose relatives cannot currently visit them. The essence of the project, which is now backed by nearly 450 Iberdrola volunteers, lies in allowing people in homes to communicate virtually with volunteers. Iberdrola’s volunteers are also donating electronic devices so that elderly people who are isolated in hospitals and nursing homes can keep in touch with their families. One of the measures taken to support people with intellectual disabilities and/or mental illnesses is to keep them company over the phone. This initiative now involves over 25 employees collaborating with a variety of organisations such as the Adecco Foundation and the Juan XXIII Foundation, the idea being to hold daily conversations with people suffering from intellectual disabilities and/or mental illnesses, who are in special need of company to deal with the health crisis at a personal level. From storytelling to donations for children’s organisations Another of Iberdrola’s innovative volunteer projects consists of telling stories to children and adults with intellectual disabilities by following easy reading guidelines. This means using simple writing techniques to help people with reading comprehension difficulties to understand the story. Volunteers are recording themselves reading these adapted stories to make life easier for people with disabilities and their carers. As well as all these initiatives, Iberdrola employees and their families are busy sending out messages, drawings and letters to show their support and appreciation for the healthcare staff who are on the front line dealing with this crisis at hospitals and clinics all across Spain. Iberdrola has also launched a donation campaign amongst staff to raise money for the Aldeas Infantiles children’s charity in an effort to help the most unprivileged families with children. The money donated already amounts to almost €20,000, which will be turned into food vouchers for families in need. Global action plan against the COVID-19 coronavirus These volunteer initiatives are part of the Global action plan launched by Iberdrola against the COVID-19 coronavirus . The aim of the company is not only to ensure there are no shortages in the energy supply at this difficult time, but also to help address the needs of our stakeholders. This includes measures such as donating nearly €25 million worth of healthcare products, reinforcing the power supply in essential infrastructures like hospitals and medical facilities, and taking steps to help the most vulnerable customers through this crisis. READ MORE
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16/04/2020"Now is the time for defending the social aspect of companies" During a speech broadcast last night by Atresmedia in its programme En primera línea, the chairman of Iberdrola, Ignacio Galán, praised the work of healthcare professionals in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. He thanked and acknowledged everyone involved in the battle against the infection, particularly “doctors and healthcare workers who are giving their best day after day”. Galán also mentioned the thousands of people “from cleaners to basic service providers and transport workers, etc., who are making our daily lives, confinement and homes easier to bear”. Iberdrola’s chairman also underlined that from the outset, the company implemented more than 100 measures to protect its employees’ health and continue providing services to society, and that it is doing everything necessary to “support industries and suppliers so that they can emerge from this crisis as quickly as possible”. “Now is the time to defend the social aspects of companies”, he concluded. READ MORE
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11/04/2020A military aircraft has landed at Madrid-Torrejón with some of the 4.6 million masks donated by Iberdrola Iberdrola is making its capacity to access global suppliers available to the Government to acquire essential medical equipment. This Saturday, a military aircraft landed at Madrid-Torrejón with some of the 4.6 million masks donated by the company. The army is in Shanghai to collect the equipment acquired from the supplier Wottoline for subsequent distribution through its nationwide network of logistics centres. This week, a batch of disposable protective coveralls certified according to Directive 89/686/ECC – managed by Iturri for the Ministry of the Interior and Health – are arriving on commercial aircraft along with other material for government use and are being stored for distribution on the company's campus, a training centre temporarily transformed into a large storage facility. A total of 438 ventilators are expected to arrive within the next few days, 400 of them managed through the supplier Amara, and another 38 with Viral Health, along with a large consignment of protective goggles and more masks and coveralls acquired from the same supplier. In total, and in addition to the 4.6 million masks and 438 ventilators, in an initial purchase worth more than 22 million euros, Iberdrola has acquired 120,000 coveralls and 20,000 protective goggles, all from suppliers Iturri, Wottoline, Amara and Viral Health. The company has also distributed a small batch of material worth 100,000 euros consisting of nitrile rubber gloves, disposable coveralls, FFP2/KN95 masks, goggles, half-masks, hand sanitiser, gowns and sleeves to the Basque Country, managed with the support of Iturri, El Corte Inglés, Guerín-Sonepar, Centralcom, Central del Regalo and Ceminorte. Comprehensive plan in response to the COVID-19 virus A total of 107 measures have been implemented by the group worldwide during the pandemic, during which more than 90% of office staff are working from home and the work of outside personnel at power stations and transmission and distribution networks has been reorganised. At the beginning of this health crisis, Iberdrola also notified health departments in autonomous communities of its global action programme in response to the COVID-19 coronavirus, which included a plan for hospital services in Spain to ensure flows of supplies and supply quality, as well as the deployment of new facilities to reinforce the service. The company has also donated 8,000 blankets to field hospitals and nursing homes. "This comprehensive plan is enabling us to guarantee the continuity of the electricity supply to the population as a whole, while reinforcing crucial infrastructures such as hospitals and health centres with human and technical resources," said Iberdrola chairman Ignacio Galán during last week's Shareholders General Meeting, held fully online. In short, Iberdrola’s response to the COVID-19 crisis is “entirely consistent” with the model that it has been applying for decades, geared to sustainable value creation for shareholders, employees and society in general. READ MORE
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07/04/2020In March, Iberdrola placed orders with suppliers worth 2.9 bn euros in the throes of the crisis caused by the outbreak of the coronavirus Iberdrola has placed orders for almost 4 bn euros during the first quarter of the year with more than 10,000 suppliers around the world, double the amount in the same period of 2019. These orders will help to keep industry moving and hundreds of thousands of people in work. Specifically, and according to the company's data, March was the busiest month in this regard, with orders worth almost 2.9 billion euros placed, almost 75% of the total for the quarter. The purchases made during the quarter are the equivalent of preserving around 700 direct and indirect full-time jobs and will help to create around 400,000 jobs during the year. At the same time, 24% of the total amount was allocated to suppliers based in Spain (more than 940 million euros). Local companies in the United States took 21.5% of the total for the period (825 million euros) and those in Brazil 18% (695 million euros). Aware of the impact of the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic, and within the framework of an unprecedented investment strategy approved to be carried out during 2020, which will amount to a record-breaking 100bn euros, Iberdrola's management opted to accelerate purchases from its suppliers as of mid-March. Likewise, during the Shareholders General Meeting 2020 on 2 April, Iberdrola chairman Ignacio Galán announced that open agreements for delivering orders to the company until 2023 currently exceed 20 bn euros. As a result of these investments, which will increase the its portfolio of equipment, materials, works and services, the company will start producing at least half of the 9,000 MW it is currently building around the world. Specifically, Iberdrola is currently moving ahead around the world with 30 photovoltaic solar plants, 50 onshore wind farms, new offshore wind farms such as Saint Brieuc in France, Baltic Eagle in Germany and Vineyard in the U.S.; the Tâmega pumped storage hydroelectric giga battery in Portugal, more than 5,000 kilometres of very high voltage transmission lines in Brazil and new distribution networks in the states of New York, Maine and Connecticut. Iberdrola ramps up its driver effect every year Iberdrola group made purchases of over 2O bn euros from MORE THAN 22,000 suppliers all around the world in 2019[i], ratifying, yet again, the company’s importance as a driving force for the business community in all its areas of business. These high volumes of purchases drive growth in the countries where the company operates, benefiting business activity, industrial and social development in the regions by creating jobs throughout the supply chain. [i] Average 13-day bill settlement period READ MORE
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07/04/2020Energy companies promote the Positive Energy+ initiative to alleviate the impact of coronavirus through innovation Several companies in the Spanish energy sector have joined forces to combat the effects of the crisis caused by the coronavirus in Spain. Together they have created Positive Energy+, a pioneering initiative in Spain that uses innovation as the main tool to offer effective responses to help alleviate the economic and social impact of COVID-19. This platform is initially promoted by Red Eléctrica, Enagás, CLH, Iberdrola, BP and EIT InnoEnergy, and institutions such as Startup Olé, ASCRI and El Referente have already confirmed their collaboration. It is also open to other companies and organisations that want to join. Through their subsidiaries or technology departments/corporate venturing teams, the participating companies launch this urgent call to attract and financially support startups and scaleups with innovative projects, to enable them to launch immediately and be developed and implemented within one year. The supported projects must be related, on the energy side, to environmental sustainability, mobility, social impact, digitisation, telecommunications and 4.0, and must contribute to alleviating the economic and social effects of COVID-19 in Spain. Each of the companies will support at least one startup/scaleup with financing for project development and/or by offering their innovation, investment, commercial development and structural tools to them. The term for receiving proposals is open from today until 19 April. The aim is to streamline the project selection process as much as possible to allow work to start in the second half of May. To see all the information about Positive Energy+, click here. READ MORE
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06/04/2020Núñez de Balboa, operational: Iberdrola commissions Europe’s largest photovoltaic plant The largest photovoltaic plant in Europe has just come into operation, and today, at 12 noon, it discharged its first MWh of clean energy into the electricity grid. Iberdrola has succeeded in commissioning the Núñez de Balboa project - the biggest photovoltaic plant in Europe - in record time. It was built in just one year and completed last December. Núñez de Balboa, with 500 megawatts (MW) of installed power and involving an investment approaching €300m, is between the towns of Usagre, Hinojosa del Valle and Bienvenida in Badajoz. The plant, which is being developed in collaboration with Ecoenergías del Guadiana, is a record-breaking renewable flagship project: * Millions of components: the installation of 1,430,000 solar panels, 115 inverters and two substations requiring the delivery of a total of 3,200 containers. See more here * Job creation: more than 1,200 employees were employed during peak period, 70% of them from Extremadura; See more here * Revitalising the industry: building the plant has boosted the value chain with purchases worth €227 million from some thirty suppliers. See more here * Action against climate change: the plant will generate clean energy to supply 250,000 people a year - equivalent to the populations of Cáceres and Badajoz combined - and will prevent the emission of 215,000 tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere per year. See more here * Green finance project: Iberdrola received green financing from the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Instituto de Crédito Oficial (ICO), Spain's state financial agency for the project. See more here * Promoting sustainable consumption: in a pioneering move for Spain, the project will supply clean energy to major clients committed to sustainable consumption in the banking , telecommunications and distribution sectors through long-term Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs). * Education and training on renewables: Iberdrola and the Councils of Usagre and the Commonwealth of Llerena are collaborating to train students at Campiña Sur Vocational School in Extremadura, with educational site visits and work experience programmes at the plant. See more here A further 1,300 MW in renewables in the pipeline in Extremadura Iberdrola is focusing its renewable strategy in Spain in Extremadura, where it plans to install more than 2,000 MW of photovoltaic generation by 2022. Following the commissioning of Núñez de Balboa (500 MW), the company has more than 1,300 MW in six renewable photovoltaic projects in the pipeline: Francisco Pizarro (590 MW)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. It also has 300 MW with grid access available to plan another photovoltaic project. Iberdrola expects to start building Campo Arañuelo (Arañuelo I, II and III), with 150 MW of power in the near future. This development will create up to 200 jobs in the construction phase and have a high level of local involvement, since the engineering and environmental works have been awarded to Extremadura-based firm Ecoenergías del Guadiana and the power transformers will be supplied by Faramax. The project also includes an energy storage system with an innovative battery. Clean energy relaunch plan in Spain Iberdrola's plan to invest in renewable energies in Spain includes installing 3,000 new MW by 2022. By 2030, company expects to have installed 10,000 new MW. These projects will create jobs for 20,000 people. Iberdrola leads Spain in renewable energies, with an installed wind power capacity of 6,000 MW and over 16,000 MW in renewable energy; an figure of around 32,000 MW worldwide. Its generation facilities are among 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. Of these, 25 billion have been invested in Spain. READ MORE
