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08/09/2021Iberdrola, the only Spanish company in the ranking of the world's top 100 integrated reports Iberdrola is the only Spanish company in the world ranking of the 100 best integrated reports according to the League of American Communications Professionals (LACP). The organisation, which assessed nearly 1,000 annual reports from different companies in more than a dozen countries around the world, has awarded Iberdrola the Platinium award with a score of 99 out of 100, considering it one of the best in Europe in integrated reporting. The main evaluation criteria are accessibility of information, narrative, creativity, letter to investors, clarity of financial data, cover page and first impression. Iberdrola reaffirms its leadership in transparency The Integrated Report sets out the company's annual performance, reflecting financial, social and corporate governance (ESG) developments. As part of its commitment to transparency and improving its stakeholders' understanding of the company, the Iberdrola group has been publishing this report since 2014. It is prepared by a multidisciplinary team comprising business divisions and corporate areas, with the aim of providing a complete vision of the group, its business model and the challenges and risks it faces. The League of American Communication Professionals (LACP) was founded in 2001 with the aim of creating spaces for knowledge exchange, sharing best practices in the profession and recognising companies or individuals with exemplary communication skills. READ MORE
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01/09/2021Iberdrola will help fleet operators analyse the benefits of electrifying their vehicles Iberdrola, through its US subsidiary Avangrid , is making progress in its commitment to electric mobility , and, through its PERSEO International Start-ups Programme, it is launching a new challenge to identify digital tools that would allow fleet operators to evaluate the costs, benefits and viability of replacing conventional vehicles with electric ones. The challenge will positively consider tools that include variables such as geolocation; the identification of available vehicles —make, model, year, mileage range— and replacement electric vehicles; fuel costs and analysis of rates; viability of sites; operation and maintenance costs; charging infrastructure needs and tax incentives. The platform must also calculate CO2 savings and other environmental benefits. The proposals will be analysed by experts from the Iberdrola Group network based on criteria such as scalability, robustness and ease of implementation and use, and can be sent up until 30 September . The winner will be announced in November. Avangrid is committed to the electrification of the transport sector as a key strategy to achieve its climate goals. In this regard, it actively supports the electrification of vehicles through its EV Charger Make-Ready programme, whose objective is to commission more than 13,000 new chargers by 2025. It is also aiming to electrify and decarbonise, through the use of clean fuel alternatives, 60 % of its own fleet by 2030, including 100 % of its fleet of light vehicles. Financial and technical support The company will provide the winner of the challenge with financial and technical support to test its solution and will also provide the necessary resources to validate it: equipment and materials, infrastructure, high-tech sites and co-working areas, as well as a real-world environment with real data. If the pilot project is successful, it may offer the winner the opportunity to increase the scale of the solution, adopting it through commercial agreements, and PERSEO would even consider investing in the company winning the challenge. Electric mobility and green recovery Iberdrola remains committed to the electrification of transport in its strategy for the transition to a decarbonised economy and sees this as a key lever for reducing emissions and pollution, as well as for the green recovery of the economy and employment. The company is implementing a sustainable mobility plan through which it will install 150,000 charging points in homes, businesses, urban roads, cities and major motorways over the next few years. Its commitment to the deployment of high-efficiency stations will see the installation of ultra-fast (350 kW), super-fast (150 kW) and fast (50 kW) stations. Iberdrola is aware of the need to boost electric mobility in Spain through coordinated, effective action involving the major players. In this regard, the company has already completed more than 50 infrastructure deployment agreements with administrations, institutions, companies, service stations, dealers and electric vehicle manufacturers. Perseo: more than 10 years of innovation PERSEO Iberdrola's international startup programme aims to facilitate the group’s access to the technologies of the future and foster the creation and development of a global and dynamic ecosystem of technology companies and entrepreneurs in the electricity sector. With a total budget of 125 million euros, the programme has invested 85 million euros in startups in just over a decade, focusing on those that can improve the sustainability of the energy sector through greater electrification and decarbonisation of the economy. The programme has focused its actions on analysing business opportunities and technological collaboration with startups and emerging companies around the world, analysing 300 companies each year and creating an ecosystem of almost 3,000 entrepreneurial companies. This investment instrument currently has a portfolio of eight companies. READ MORE
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30/08/2021Iberdrola acquires a stake in CO2 Revolution to redouble its commitment to renewables and biodiversity Iberdrola has taken another step forward in its strategy of combining the development of emission-free renewable energy projects with the preservation of biodiversity by acquiring a stake in CO2 Revolution , a Navarre-based company that is a benchmark in reforestation using drones and smart seeds. The operation has been carried out through its PERSEO International Startups Programme , which has been identifying and promoting future technologies in the energy sector for more than a decade. Iberdrola’s participation in CO2 Revolution will boost collaboration between the two companies, which are already developing joint projects to preserve ecosystems in areas and regions where Iberdrola operates. With the technology developed by this company, it is also possible to repopulate up to 100 times faster than with traditional means and plant up to 100,000 tree seeds in a single day at a low cost. In fact, so far this year, it has reforested 1,000 hectares of land and prevented the emission of 150,000 tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere. Iberdrola's Director of Innovation and Sustainability, Agustín Delgado, highlights the reasons for PERSEO's investment in CO2 Revolution "the innovative approach with which they combine the use of drones and big data, effectively orienting their work towards improving biodiversity; one of the areas that presents the greatest challenges in the development of an energy production model based on renewables. Its actions also favour the local economy, through collaboration with local suppliers, as well as inclusion, through agreements with organisations". Iberdrola is developing an ambitious reforestation strategy with its Tree Programme , which plans to plant 8 million trees by 2025 and up to 20 million by 2030. CO2 Revolution will contribute to this goal with its revolutionary reforestation system, based on selective planting with drones and smart seeds. These plantations will always be carried out with native species — not just trees — including shrubs and grasses that contribute to the preservation of full ecosystems. In 2020, the company has already promoted the planting of 768,000 trees, therefore advancing towards its short-term goal of replanting 2.5 million trees by 2022. It is estimated that the 20 million trees planted by the company by 2030 will capture approximately 6 million tonnes of CO2 over 30 years. For Juan Carlos Sesma, CEO of CO2 Revolution, the incorporation of Iberdrola as a partner is a national milestone as, on the one hand, it further boosts CO2 Revolution’s ongoing commitment to R&D and, on the other, it demonstrates the real climate ambition of one of the largest and most important companies in our country, an engine of the Spanish economy that will place Spain at the forefront of the true Ecological Transition by leading the EU’s European Green Pact. The joint objective is to make CO2 Revolution a world leader in forest biotechnology applied to reforestation, the fight against climate change and the carbon bonds market. Iberdrola-PERSEO international startup programme Iberdrola has redoubled its efforts to promote biodiversity and the preservation of healthy ecosystems as key elements for sustainable growth. This has led the group — an international leader in the fight against climate change and a world leader in renewable energies — to set itself the goal of achieving zero net loss of biodiversity by 2030, committing, whenever possible, to a positive net impact in new infrastructure developments. This line of action has been reinforced by Iberdrola's PERSEO International Startups Programme, which aims to facilitate the group's access to the technologies of the future and foster the creation and development of a global and dynamic ecosystem of technology companies and entrepreneurs in the electricity sector. With a total budget of 125 million euros, the programme has invested 85 million euros in startups in just over a decade, focusing on those that can improve the sustainability of the energy sector through greater electrification and decarbonisation of the economy. Through PERSEO, Iberdrola analyses around 300 companies each year helping it create an ecosystem of almost 3,000 entrepreneurial companies. This investment vehicle is currently involved in a portfolio of nine companies, including the recent acquisition in CO2 Revolution. READ MORE
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30/08/2021Iberdrola signs land lease agreement for Baltic Eagle operations building Sassnitz, 30 August 2021 – Iberdrola and the port of Sassnitz (Fährhafen Sassnitz GmbH) have signed the lease agreement for the new operations and maintenance building that will serve the Baltic Eagle offshore wind farm, at a ceremony chaired by the Prime Minister of the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Manuela Schwesig. The agreement delivers another important milestone in the offshore wind farm construction schedule. During the event, Iris Stempfle, Managing Director of Iberdrola Renovables Deutschland GmbH, also announced that, on 1st September, the company will submit a bid for the construction of "Windanker", a new offshore wind farm in the Baltic Sea. The plan is to expand the Baltic Hub (currently, 350-MW Wikinger in operation since 2017 and 476-MW Baltic Eagle under construction) to more than 1 GW by 2026. "As a global leader in the generation of wind energy, we are also taking responsibility for shaping the German energy transition in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. With today's agreement and our participation in the auction for the construction of the Windanker offshore wind farm, we are committed to regional value creation and to our target of 1.1 GW by 2026," highlighted Iris Stempfle. In order for this to succeed smoothly, Stempfle noted, the next state government will have to designate more areas for the expansion of renewable energy at sea and on land and simplify planning procedures. The market design should also change in cooperation with the industry in order to ensure reliable energy prices for the end consumer and stable framework conditions for companies by reducing risks. Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig said: “We in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern want the energy transition in Germany to succeed. To achieve this, we need more wind farms at sea that produce large amounts of electricity. Iberdrola is already present off our coast with the Wikinger wind farm. In the next few years, a second large project will be added with Baltic Eagle. I am very pleased that planning, operation and maintenance will again be carried out from the port of Mukran. This creates jobs on the island of Rügen and is an important contribution to the energy transition in Germany." Green investments to promote economic recovery Iberdrola believes that the energy transition can act as a key driving force in the transformation of industry, a green economic recovery and job creation. With this focus Iberdrola has launched a major €75 billion investment plan for the 2020-2025 period, with the aim of doubling its renewable capacity and taking advantage of the opportunities created by the energy revolution in the world's major economies. After twenty years driving the energy transition, with investments of over €120 billion, Iberdrola is a leader in renewable energy, with an installed capacity of more than 33 GW, making its generation fleet one of the cleanest in the energy industry. With CO2/kWh emissions already two thirds lower than the European average, the investment strategy in clean energy and networks will lead Iberdrola to become carbon neutral in Europe by 2030. READ MORE
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27/08/2021We want to power the U. S. with green energy In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, the chairman and Chief Executive of Iberdrola, Ignacio Galán, says he believes an electricity grid powered entirely with renewable energy is possible through a combination of solar, wind, hydroelectricity and batteries. Here are some of the highlights of the interview *: * "When we started 20 years ago, we received a lot of criticism from those investing in coal power plants and mines who said it was the only way to keep the lights on. [...] Now coal power plants are closing [...], gas power plants are in some cases only being used as backup and the lights are on and all the while electricity demand has been increasing". * "The pressure on politicians to reduce carbon emissions has become greater", especially after the lockdown due to the pandemic, when "people discovered there is another world without smoke, without pollution". * "The message from the U. S. of the destination being renewables, with coal plant closures by 2035, is very positive". * "It’s a great moment now because there appear to be less and less enemies. Some of them are becoming competitors or even partners on projects, I think that is great". * Under subscription only. READ MORE
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24/08/2021Iberdrola mobilises green hydrogen in the Apenine railway hub in Italy Iberdrola has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with AECOM — a global leader in the infrastructure sector —, Ancitel Energia e Ambiente — a company specialising in regional sustainable development — and Cinque International — a company active in implementing solutions that use green hydrogen — to undertake the project to convert the Apennine railway, which links Sansepolcro (Arezzo) and Sulmona (L'Aquila) in Italy, to green hydrogen. This railway line, which is more than 300 km long, is strategic as it connects inland areas of Italy, and runs through Toscana, Umbría, Lacio and Abruzos, as well as Perugia, Terni, Rieti and L'Aquila. Part of the line has not been electrified and is used by diesel locomotives that have reached the end of their useful lives: the switch to green hydrogen as a fuel is a drastically less expensive alternative than traditional electrification and will bring innovation and development to areas affected by depopulation and deindustrialisation. The Memorandum of Understanding also includes an evaluation of the technical viability of converting the Ferrovia dei Due Mare (Two Seas Railway) to green hydrogen, which will connect Fiumincino and Rome airports with San Benedetto del Tronto by way of Rieti, Amatrice and Ascoli Piceno making Rome the leading city in the world in terms of trains powered by green hydrogen. The conversion initiatives are part of an integrated, sustainable project to revitalise the Central Apennines, involving AECOM, Ancitel Energia e Ambiente and Cinque International. The development project focuses on the use of electric trains driven by hydrogen as a lever to attract productive investment in areas affected by the earthquakes in 2009, 2016 and 2017, which have suffered from population and economic decline in recent years, phonemena exacerbated by the spread of the pandemic. The use of new energy and environmental technologies are at the heart of this initiative, with green hydrogen produced from renewable sources taking a leading role. Lorenzo Costantini, country manager for Iberdrola in Italy, says “it is an opportunity to put our skills at the service of this ambitious project which, in addition to having a major environmental impact, is also intended to have a significant economic and social impact, supporting areas affected by seismic events in recent years." Preselection for the European Clean Hydrogen Alliance The Sansepolcro - Sulmona hydrogen railway project has already passed through several stages: In 2019, it was submitted to Italy's Hydrogen Bureau at the Ministry of Economic Development (MiSE). In 2020, after a preliminary viability study coordinated by the Scuola Superiore S. Anna in Pisa, a technical bureau was set up in the MiSE in collaboration with the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport (MIT), the FS and RFI group. In December 2020, a process was launched to gather support from local communities in order to eliminate bureaucratic and administrative red tape. In July 2021, the project was preselected by the European Commission with the European Clean Hydrogen Alliance. While executing the plan, the initiative's promoters will continue to have conversations with the regions about the route of the railway, with the Grupo Ferrovie dello Stato and with other public and private local agents, involving them in developing and carrying out the project. Green hydrogen initiatives in Europe, the United States and Brazil Iberdrola is carrying out green hydrogen initiatives and projects in Europe — in countries including Spain, the United Kingdom and now, Italy — as well as in the United States and Brazil. These will contribute to the decarbonisation of industry, transport and heavy goods transport as well as developing the value chain. In Spain alone, the company has submitted 53 projects to Next Generation EU — which are now among the 150 initiatives developed as part of this programme — mobilising investments of 2.5 billion to reach an annual production of 60,000 tonnes/year. In Spain, Iberdrola is currently building the largest green hydrogen plan in Europe to produce fertilizers. Fertiberia will start operating the plant in Puertollan later this year. READ MORE
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23/08/2021Iberdrola accelerated its investment in smart grids in the Basque Country to 144 million over the last 18 months, 50 % more than in the 2017-2019 three-year period Iberdrola chairman, Ignacio Galán, meeting today in Bilbao with the company’s management team as well as the Executive Committee in their traditional first meeting after the summer, has confirmed the importance of smart grids to driving the energy transition and the company's intention to accelerate their development in the Basque Country, with investments that, in the last year and a half, have amounted to 144 million euros — 82 millions of these in Bizkaia —, 50 % more than those made in the 2017-2019 three-year period. The investments by i-DE, Iberdrola’s distribution company, between 2020 and July 2021 were aimed at renewing the existing infrastructure which, through the digitalisation and automation of the grid, have facilitated the incorporation of renewable energies into the electricity system and have enabled an agile and efficient response to energy needs in times of pandemic, also contributing to the development of the value chain and employment in the Basque Country. As a result of this investment effort, the quality of supply to its customers in the Basque Country reached 99.9 %, as reflected in the TIEPI index, which stood at 54 minutes in 2020. Galán pointed out that investments in distribution networks support an industrial value chain with 90 % local suppliers, many of them SMEs, in areas such as capital goods manufacturing, engineering, assembly companies, civil works, logistics, raw material suppliers, etc. Algorithms for network incident management The high levels of automation of Iberdrola’s networks in the territory are complemented with intelligent Control Systems and, in particular, with the Automatic Restoration Algorithm (ARA), which detects incidents in the grid and acts autonomously to isolate incidents as soon as they occur. Without the need for human intervention, the ARA makes it possible to recover an average of 70 % of the power and customers affected in less than 3 minutes. The company is also undertaking an ambitious substation modernisation plan, which includes more than 70 in the Basque Country; a plan launched in 2018 with an investment of close to 160 million euros. More investment in grids to meet climate targets and reactivate the economy The Iberdrola chairman also detailed Iberdrola’s network investment plan in the Basque Country for the three-year period 2022-2024, which amounts to more than 200 million euros, with which the company expects to generate up to 2,500 jobs in the region. He also insisted on the need to increase these investments, up to 300 million euros over the period, in order to achieve the objectives of the roadmap for implementing the National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan (PNIEC), eliminating investment barriers where appropriate and where distribution companies have the capacity and intention to develop them. In the Basque Country, i-DE manages more than 18,400 km of low and medium voltage lines and more than 4,400 km of high and very high voltage lines. It also has 11,248 digitised transformation centres, 3,589 new automated centres and remote-control elements and 1.3 million smart meters in service. A driving force for R&D&i and local and international talent In Larraskitu, Iberdrola is finalising its Global Smart Grids Innovation Hub (GSGIH) , a cutting-edge, open innovation centre that will define the smart grids of the future. The centre was created with the aim of becoming a benchmark in innovation applied to grids and will act as a platform for R&D&i and local and international talent, combining the company’s technological capacity with that of its global strategic partners and a broad collaborative ecosystem of suppliers, universities and start-ups worldwide. The company has already identified and is working on more than 120 projects worth 110 million euros and has reached agreements with 30 technology partners on developing grid digitalisation solutions, renewables integration, electric vehicles deployment and energy storage systems. The Provincial Council of Bizkaia is collaborating in this initiative, which is also connected to the Biscay Startup Bay strategy, as it will also become a scaleup for startups in the energy sector that set up in the Torre Bizkaia. Zorrotzaurre: a smart island with zero emissions Iberdrola is also involved in the project led by the Bilbao City Council to make the island of Zorrotzaurre a smart district with zero emissions. With an investment of 20 million euros, the company plans to develop and manage the smart grids in the district and will provide smart solutions for electric mobility, self-consumption, storage and air conditioning, as well as monitoring tools for private and industrial customers. In the project, i-DE will play an important role in the digital transformation of the electricity infrastructure and will also act as the distribution system operator (DSO) , which distributes and manages energy from its generation to its consumption by end users. In this process, digitalisation is key and investments in automation, smart meters, real-time systems, big data and data analytics are required. Engine of the Basque Country's economy At the meeting, Galán underlined the company’s commitment to continue acting as a driving force in the Basque Country: the socio-economic impact of its 2020-2025 investment plan will exceed 15 billion in the region. A commitment to continue leading the energy transition that will also boost the value chain, as almost half of the impact of its activity by 2025 will be purchases from Basque suppliers. In 2020, Iberdrola's socio-economic contribution to the Basque Country amounted to 2,3 billion euros, with purchases worth 1 billion euros from Basque suppliers, through which Iberdrola supports 17,000 jobs in the region. Investments amounting to 160 million euros. Iberdrola’s economic activity in the Basque Country generated a tax contribution of 740 million euros last year. A total of 250 million euros was allocated to dividends distributed among its more than 65,000 shareholders in the Basque Country. READ MORE
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20/08/2021Iberdrola, ranked on the FTSE4Good index since 2009 For another year, Iberdrola has been included in the prestigious international index FTSE4Good, designed to facilitate investment into the most sustainable companies in the world, taking environmental, sustainability and governance (ESG) criteria as a reference. The company has succeeded in meeting the strict requirements imposed by the committee that decides who will be included in the index. This decision is based on an increasingly demanding methodology consisting of 204 indicators, which include environmental conservation, social commitment and corporate governance. Appearing in the FTSE4Good index reaffirms Iberdrola's success with work standards, human rights, health and safety, biodiversity, climate change, water and customer responsibilities and social aspects of the supplier chain. The company also complied with the organisation's corporate governance, risk management, anti-corruption mechanisms and tax transparency requirements. Iberdrola already exceeds 35,500 megawatts (MW) of installed renewable capacity worldwide and has a pipeline of clean energy projects to reach 60,000 megawatts (MW) by 2025. Iberdrola is the only power company in Europe to have been included in all 20 editions of the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) , a clear sign of its strong commitment to sustainability and recognition of its strategy, which has responded successfully to the main economic, environmental and social challenges relating to the international energy policy. Added to this is the group's presence in the main international sustainability index's, which include MSCI, Sustainalytics, ISS-oekom, Bloomberg GEI, Euronext Vieto Eiris índices, Global100, EcoVadis, etc. Contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Iberdrola has incorporated the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) defined by the United Nations for the 2030 horizon into its business strategy and its sustainability policy, and it is a benchmark for its direct contribution to these global goals, particularly in its contributions in the field of energy and climate change. With the renewal of the FTSE4Good index, Iberdrola's commitment to this 2030 Agenda is once again demonstrated. The company focuses its efforts on the supply of affordable and clean energy (Goal 7) and on climate action (Goal 13) while also contributing directly to ensuring clean water and sanitation (Goal 6), increasing its investment in R&D+i activities (Goal 9), promoting respect for the life of terrestrial ecosystems (Goal 15) and working to establish partnerships to achieve the goals (Goal 17). Furthermore, Iberdrola has always shown its commitment to reducing emissions to combat climate change and moving towards the decarbonisation of the economy. The company's environmental objective is to reduce the intensity of CO2 emissions to 50 gCO2/kWh by 2030, which represents a reduction of 73% since 2015, and to be carbon neutral by 2050. READ MORE
