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29/01/2020Iberdrola chairman Ignacio Galán to be awarded a prize and give the keynote address at Forinvest Finance Night 2020 Forinvest will be holding its Finance Night at 7:00 p.m. on Monday 2 March. This year’s event will have a blue chip speaker in the person of Ignacio Galán, Iberdrola chairman and Iberdrola Group CEO, who is set to address this great economic-financial world gala evening. Ximo Puig, president of the Government of the Autonomous Community of Valencia is to preside the event. Galán’s keynote address, which is to deal with the most important issues of the day, will open the thirteenth edition of Forinvest, to be held over 3-4 March 2020 at Feria Valencia. In addition to giving the keynote address, the Iberdrola president will be receiving the lifetime achievement award, one of several awards to be presented by Forinvest that evening to members of the business world, financiers and successful entrepreneurs. Ignacio Galán’s CV (Salamanca, 1950) is no quick read. He was acknowledged in 2019 as one of the most important CEOs in the world in the annual ranking drawn up by the Harvard Business Review, and is one of the 30 most influential people in the fight against climate change according to Bloomberg. An industrial engineer graduate from the ICAI School of Engineering (Madrid), he also holds honorary doctorates from the universities of Salamanca, Edinburgh and Strathclyde (Glasgow). Galán has directed leading companies in cutting-edge industrial and technological sectors, where he has brought about profound changes to their profiles, thereby stamping his vision of the future and revealing his capacity to steal a march on the new needs of various sectors. In addition to being the president and CEO of Iberdrola, he is currently also chairman of Iberdrola Group subholdings in the United Kingdom, the United States and Brazil. Under Galán's direction, Iberdrola has become a global energy leader, the top producer of wind power and one of the biggest electricity companies in the world in terms of market cap. He is a member of the electricity cluster of the World Economic Forum (Davos), which he has presided over; he is also a member of the Steering Committee of the European Round Table of Industrialists and of the JP Morgan International Council. Professionals of the stature of Pedro Solbes, ex-Deputy Prime Minister of the Government of Spain; Antonio Garrigues Walker, renowned lawyer; José María Viñals, Senior Executive at the IMF; José Manuel González-Páramo, member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank; and Nuria Oliver, international expert in artificial intelligence and the first Spaniard to receive an MIT Innovation award, are previous recipients of the award to be presented to Ignacio Galán. The Finance Night The Forinvest Finance Night serves as a prelude to two days of intensive analyses, conferences and debate with A-list speakers, which will see Valencia become the focal point for the country’s economic-financial affairs. Personalities from the business, economic and financial worlds, the insurance sector and Valencian society will all attend the event to be presided over by Ximo Puig, president of the Government of the Autonomous Community of Valencia, who will be accompanied by his Minister for Finance and Economy and the chairman of Forinvest, Vicent Soler. Bankia, Santander, Caixabank, Sabadell, Ibercaja and the Government of the Autonomous Community of Valencia through the Valencia Institute of Finance (IVF) are event partners, while Mapfre is the official event insurer. READ MORE
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28/01/2020Ignacio Galán shows the Portuguese prime minister, António Costa, around the Tâmega giga battery, one of the largest in Europe Iberdrola's chairman, Ignacio Galán, and the Portuguese prime minister, António Costa, visited the Tâmega giga battery works this morning, one of the largest energy stores in Europe. The Tâmega complex, with an investment of more than 1.5 billion euros, includes the construction of three reservoirs (Gouvães, Daivões and Alto Tâmega) on the Tâmega river, which is a tributary of the Duero. The works, which began in 2014, are now two thirds completed and are expected to be finalised in 2023 according to the planned schedule, while the Gouvães and Daivões plants will be operational by the end of 2021. On his visit to the complex — which was also attended by Portugal's minister for the environment and energy transition, João Pedro Matos Fernandes, and the presidents of the town councils in Ribeira de Pena, Vila Pouca de Aguilar, Chaves and Cabeceiras de Basto — Ignacio Galán and António Costa inspected the progress in the works, which employ thousands of professionals from more than 100 companies, 75 of them Portuguese. Once completed, this large renewable infrastructure will have sufficient storage capacity to serve two million Portuguese households for an entire day and will contribute to the emission reduction targets set by the Portuguese Government. Iberdrola also launched a socioeconomic action plan for the area around the development more than five years ago, which, with over 50 million euros invested, has promoted social, cultural and environmental initiatives. These are already paying off in the seven municipalities that benefited from the project: Vila Pouca de Aguiar, Riberia de Pena, Boticas, Chaves, Cabeceiras de Basto, Montalegre and Valpaços. The development of this large complex has been possible thanks to Iberdrola's determined commitment to a sustainable energy model, which began two decades ago, and to the stable environment achieved by Portugal's government in recent years. Ignacio Galán told António Costa "developing infrastructure such as this (one of the largest in Europe) is only possible if there is clear planning, a stable framework, legal certainty and continuous dialogue to seek solutions to the inevitable incidents that can arise throughout its construction and operation". Galán also congratulated the Prime Minister on the economic recovery process the country is undergoing: "Based on the incentives provided by the success of its economic programme and the social agenda it has implemented during its term in government, direct foreign investment has increased to record levels". Commitment to renewable energy in Portugal The three plants that make up the great Tâmega giga battery (Gouvães, Daivões and Alto Tâmega) add up to 1,158 megawatts (MW). In addition to the Tâmega project, Iberdrola has other new renewable developments in Portugal: it has recently been awarded the go ahead for new solar capacity to more than double its operational renewable power in the country and is already promoting new wind capacity projects in the Tâmega region, involving an investment of 200 million euros. It will, therefore, be able to supply clean energy to more than 800,000 of the company's Portuguese customers. This demonstrates Iberdrola's commitment to Portugal and its willingness to continue operating in the country. Thus, at the end of his speech before the prime minister, Ignacio Galán said: "You can be sure that Iberdrola will continue to drive the energy transition in this country, and with it the creation of wealth and well-being for all Portuguese people". Pumping technology, the most efficient storage The Tâmega giga battery will provide almost 900 MW of pumping capacity to the Portuguese electricity system, which is an increase of more than 30% compared to the megawatt capacity available to the country today. The pumping plants currently constitute a safeguard for the electrical system, since they enable energy to be stored by raising water from a lower reservoir to a higher one. This makes it possible to generate a large amount of electricity quickly, by allowing the water to flow down to the lower reservoir via a turbine. And all this takes place with no polluting emissions to the atmosphere. The excess energy in periods of low consumption is used to pump water from a lower reservoir to a higher one, thus obtaining high-quality energy that can help cover the needs of the market during periods of peak demand. Hydroelectric pumping technology is key to guaranteeing the electrical system's stability to even out the intermittency of other renewable energy sources such as wind or photovoltaic solar, which are being called on to play a key role in the energy transition that will lead to decarbonising the economy. Iberdrola expects to reach 90 million kilowatt hours (kWh) of storage capacity by 2022, which is an increase over 2018 of almost 30%: 20 million kWh more, equivalent to 400,000 electric car batteries or 1.4 million batteries for residential use. READ MORE
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23/01/2020"We’ll increase investment by more than €10 billion year" In an interview in El Economista , Iberdrola group chairman Ignacio Galán said that the target of the European Union’s Green Deal of achieving “net zero-carbon emissions” by 2050 — also an Iberdrola commitments — will require heavy investment. “That is why it is essential to mobilise all the participants involved in the planned investments”. Climate neutrality is possible if we all do our bit and move in the same direction One way of strengthening this commitment would be to tax the heaviest polluters. “At the moment, we are all paying for pollution”, he said. “But to be fair, it should be those who contaminate who pay. They should be forced to do so”. On the subject of group capitalisation, Galán confirmed that it will step up the pace of growth in networks, renewables and storage to keep its position among the world's top five companies and to meet the European Union’s decarbonisation objectives. To achieve this, he does not rule out further acquisitions. “We have a duty to be alert to opportunities arising in other markets”, he said, citing examples like the group’s nascent wind and solar developments in Australia, where it already has a 600 MW project portfolio. Lastly, he is positive about the creation of a vice-presidence of Ecological Transition, “a very similar movement to the one in the European Union which has a vice-president of the European Green Deal”. “Bringing to life the Agenda 2030 is not a partisan matter. It is up to all of us”, he concluded. READ MORE
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23/01/2020Galán aplaude las vicepresidencias de Calviño y Ribera El presidente del grupo Iberdrola, Ignacio Galán, ve de forma muy positiva la constitución del Gobierno en España, particularmente por el "refuerzo" que representa elevar a vicepresidentas a las ministras de Asuntos Económicos, Nadia Calviño, y de Transición Ecológica, Teresa Ribera. En declaraciones a Efe durante la reunión en Davos del Foro Económico Mundial, Galán ha alabado la decisión del presidente del Gobierno, Pedro Sánchez, que visitó este miércoles la localidad alpina suiza, de rodearse de un equipo económico "potente" que, en su opinión, sabrá gestionar un contexto de "cierta desaceleración de la que es consciente". A su juicio, esa intención se percibe con confianza desde los mercados internacionales, algo esencial, y constata que España es una democracia consolidada donde las distintas opciones políticas se alternan sin problema y que goza actualmente de estabilidad política. Además, Galán valora de forma especial el papel relevante de Ribera en el Gobierno, puesto que Iberdrola ha sido una empresa muy implicada en la transición ecológica, un proceso —ha dicho— "en el que llevamos trabajando más de 20 años". En su opinión, la transición ecológica representa no solo una oportunidad para luchar contra el cambio climático, sino un medio para crear empleo y atraer inversión. Así lo ve también la Comisión Europea, cuyo vicepresidente primero, Frans Timmermans, lidera el proyecto del Green Deal o Pacto Verde Europeo. En este sentido, Galán señala que el objetivo de "emisiones netas de carbono cero" para 2050 que establece este Pacto Verde "va a requerir cuantiosas inversiones". El presidente de Iberdrola recuerda que, según el banco de inversión estadounidense Goldman Sachs, la inversión acumulada necesaria para alcanzar dicho objetivo podría ascender a 7 billones de euros en la Unión Europea (UE). En todo caso, Iberdrola confía en que el acuerdo "sea la base de una regulación que incentive la inversión, agilice los procedimientos y premie a aquellos que realmente están transformando su modelo de negocio hacia la economía verde". En las dos últimas décadas, indica, Iberdrola acumula más de 100.000 millones de euros de inversión en energías limpias, redes y almacenamiento. El compromiso de Iberdrola con la sostenibilidad, la lucha contra el cambio climático y la responsabilidad social y medioambiental viene de lejos, ya que "está en nuestros estatutos". Y recuerda que la empresa cuenta, por ejemplo, con un dividendo social, lo que prueba que se puede hacer "y al mismo tiempo ser rentable", como ha reconocido uno de sus principales accionistas, Blackrock, en una reciente carta. Iberdrola cerró en diciembre un ejercicio "francamente positivo", con récord de producción y de resultados, explica Galán, y, gracias a un "relevante esfuerzo inversor", ha instalado más de 5.000 nuevos megavatios de potencia, al tiempo que prevé batir de nuevo su récord de resultados, con crecimientos en el entorno del doble dígito. El año que acaba de empezar estará marcado por "la estabilidad, el crecimiento y la predictibilidad", con el objetivo de alcanzar los 10.000 millones de euros de inversión en redes eléctricas "cada vez más inteligentes y fiables", así como en nueva capacidad renovable y en almacenamiento eficiente. Por lo que respecta a la energía eólica marina, Galán menciona varios proyectos "que suman más de 2.500 megavatios", como la inauguración en 2020 de East Anglia ONE , o la puesta en marcha de Saint-Brieuc , en Francia; Baltic Eagle , en Alemania, o Vineyard Wind , en Estados Unidos. Sobre la competencia de compañías de otros sectores, como las petroleras, en el mercado de la energía eléctrica, Galán asegura que "la competencia nos hace mejorar a todos, en beneficio de los clientes", y recuerda que desde que se produjo la liberalización eléctrica en España, en 2003, la empresa siempre ha defendido este extremo. No hay que olvidar que el sector necesita "cuantiosas inversiones" para materializar su contribución a la descarbonización de la economía, inversiones que el Ministerio para la Transición Ecológica calcula en unos 200.000 millones de euros, si se quieren alcanzar "los objetivos medioambientales" fijados. READ MORE
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22/01/2020“The fight against global warming is an opportunity” To mark his attendance at the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Iberdrola chairman and CEO Ignacio Galán, who has been a regular for the last 15 years, told the Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia that he agrees we are in the throes of a climate emergency and how pleased he is that this topic is the focus of debate. According to Galán, “the fight against global warming is an opportunity and will generate significant benefits for society, not only environmental, but also by reducing energy dependency, supply security, electricity prices and by improving health”. He also warned that we are experiencing a climate emergency, in response to which action is required “not only regarding supply, but also demand, through the electrification of transport”. “Less talk and more action: time is running out”, he added. In this regard, he reiterated that the company is the world leader in renewables, with 31,000 MW of installed capacity, generating zero-emissions energy in the United Kingdom, Germany, Portugal and the United States. READ MORE
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22/01/2020Galán tells Bloomberg he sees big opportunities in renewable energy The chairman and CEO of Iberdrola group, Ignacio Galán, discusses the company's clean energy investments with Bloomberg’s Haslinda Amin at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos. The main ideas he has highlighted are the following: * Renewables are now the most competitive form of energy that also help to stimulate the economy and support jobs. * New investments in wind and solar projects in Australia are discussed. READ MORE
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22/01/2020Ignacio Galán: "I am confident there will be a boom in electric vehicles" Among the activities at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting being held at Davos in Switzerland, Ignacio Galán, Iberdrola chairman and CEO, took part in an event organised by Bloomberg Green , where he talked about electric vehicles. During the event, Galán said that he was “confident that there will be a boom in electric vehicles. Not just because of restrictions in cities, but because they're more convenient.” “They're cheaper and easier to use.” Bloomberg Green is a Bloomberg media brand focusing on environmental news. It included Galán in a selection of 30 people, organisations and trends that offer possible solutions to the climate emergency. According to Bloomberg Green, Iberdrola is an “example that big companies can reduce emissions and remain profitable.” READ MORE
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22/01/2020Iberdrola in Davos 2020 The impacts of climate change and the need for businesses to operate sustainably are leading agenda items in Davos. We have said for too long that words must turn in to actions, and 2020 should be the year this happens. The beginning of a new decade must see sustainable and responsible business strategies. 2020 is a critical year to safeguard the future of the planet; it will culminate in the crucial COP26 summit in November in Glasgow. The energy transition and the private sector’s commitment to decarbonisation are high on the Davos agenda with this year’s theme being Stakeholders for a Cohesive and Sustainable World. The forum will try to find responses to the following issues: 1. How to address the urgent climate and environmental challenges that are harming our ecology and economy 2. How to transform industries to achieve more sustainable and inclusive business models as new political, economic and societal priorities change trade and consumption patterns 3. How to govern the technologies driving the Fourth Industrial Revolution so they benefit business and society while minimizing their risks to them 4. How to adapt to the demographic, social and technological trends reshaping education, employment and entrepreneurship Iberdrola is a global benchmark in the fight against climate change. Our strategy has been aligned with climate action for two decades. In this time, we have invested $100 billion in renewable energy, smart grids and efficient storage. Iberdrola is a longstanding member of the World Economic Forum, and chairman Ignacio Galán is a key voice in promoting the energy and climate change agenda every year at the annual meeting in Davos. This year will be no different. Speaking at the Shaping the Future of Energy and Materials panel debate in Davos, Mr. Galan said: “Today, energy transition is feasible. We have at our disposal technologies for reaching a climate neutral economy at a very competitive cost. Onshore wind is fully mature, solar photovoltaic costs have fallen by ~80% since 2010 and offshore wind by over 50%, being able to replace traditional fossil fuel technologies.” “The opportunities are huge. As an example, the EU Green Deal is estimated to require up to €7 trillion of cumulative investment up to 2050 which could nearly double annual spending of European utilities for the coming 30 years. Although the effort is considerable, everybody wins. Customers will benefit from better service and more choices, there will be more jobs and improved security, suppliers will ramp up their businesses with increased orders and shareholders will see their investments grow.” At Iberdrola, we started the transition 20 years ago, and after investing over € 100 billion in clean technologies. Nonetheless, we are not going to stop here. Iberdrola has already accelerated its investment plans in renewables and smart grids, up to around €10 billion per year which, will enable us to put close to 3 GW of renewable energy into operation in 2020 We are now a world leader in renewables multiplying our size and results by 5 times. In terms of market capitalization, we are today the 1st fully investor-owned utility in Europe. Only last year, our share price increased 31%. We have proved that it is possible to promote the Sustainable Development Goals, creating value for all, and run a profitable business that balances the interests of shareholders, employees and the society. What is the Iberdrola climate change story? As Mr Galán points out, green energy has been at our core for over 100 years, with hydro power central to our business from the outset. Then around two decades ago, after the Kyoto Protocol, Iberdrola could clearly see that climate change was a real challenge for humanity. A challenge that required urgent action. We knew that the electricity sector was key to providing solutions to combat this global problem. Since then we have been hard at work driving the energy transition towards a sustainable future. We have invested substantially in wind power, so much in fact, that we are now one of the world´s leading wind power companies. Investment of around €100 billion means that nearly 80% of all the megawatts we manage are now emission-free. Our emissions are one fourth of our European peers. A world leader in renewable energy - key pieces of the puzzle Europe’s largest solar power plant: Núñez de Balboa As costs have come down, and technology has matured, solar PV has become a pivotal technology in the energy transition. Iberdrola is well-placed to integrate this technology into its global portfolio. The electrification of the economy shows no signs of slowing, and major projects like Núñez de Balboa (500 MW) in Spain will help to ensure that increasing demand can be met, while also delivering on global climate change targets. Iberdrola is the world´s leading wind-power company, and solar is increasingly becoming an important source of investment and forms a major part of the company’s 2018-2022 investment strategy. In Spain alone Iberdrola will install 3 GW of new solar and wind by 2022, and 10 GW by 2030. The Núñez de Balboa project is also at the forefront of the expanding market in Europe for power purchase agreements (PPAs). With significant experience of managing PPA contracts the US and Mexico, Iberdrola has already closed agreements with key European corporates. Energy storage Cost-effective storage (pumped hydro, large batteries and domestic batteries) is the right technology to support generation from renewable sources. Pumped hydro, the most efficient technology for storing large amounts of energy for long periods, is essential for renewable energy integration. Iberdrola is a world leader in pumped hydro. Other storage technologies, in particular Lithium-ion batteries, are improving storage performance and leading to rapid cost reductions. Iberdrola has pioneered the launch of commercial products in Spain, such as solar PV with batteries for customers. Also, large scale hybrid projects, including wind, solar and battery storage are being developed across the globe. In addition, Iberdrola is actively investing in e-mobility solutions. READ MORE
