Press releases
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10/08/2023Iberdrola awards transition pieces contract to Windar Renovables for Windanker offshore wind farm Windar Renovables has signed an agreement with Iberdrola to manufacture 21 transition pieces for the Windanker offshore wind farm in German waters. This is the sixth project of this type of foundation to date. Production will be carried out at the Avilés facilities, with the collaboration of a large number of Spanish suppliers in the manufacture of the secondary structure, which will be integrated in the Port of Avilés, prior to its shipment to Germany. The manufacture of the 21 pieces will require more than 450,000 working hours and will generate 400 jobs. Production is scheduled to begin in late 2024, with deliveries expected to take until around the end of summer 2025. Each of these elements will have a maximum height of 17 metres, a diameter of 8 metres and weigh 400 tonnes. Windanker, which will be located in German waters, will have a capacity of 315 megawatts (MW), incorporating new generation turbines with a unit capacity of approximately 15 MW, and part of the electricity generated will be allocated to power sales contracts once it is commissioned in 2026. Windanker will reinforce the Baltic Hub, which will add more than 1,100 MW of installed capacity, also comprising the projects already built by Windar, Wikinger and Baltic Eagle. With this new contract, Windar positions itself as a leader in the manufacture of these offshore substructures and strengthens its relationship with Iberdrola for more than 9 years, adding to the contracts previously awarded for offshore wind farms in the United Kingdom, Germany, France and the United States. Windar Renovables is also currently involved in the manufacture of this type of substructure for other large Iberdrola offshore wind farms. Baltic Eagle , in German waters, whose last shipment took place last June (50 pieces), Vineyard Wind I (62 pieces) off the coast of Massachusetts, United States, and East Anglia 3 , United Kingdom (95 pieces). For Orlando Alonso, CEO of Windar Renovables, "the new order from Iberdrola highlights the high level of quality of our products and the reliability of our processes. It also confirms our forecasts that we expect a strong increase in activity in the sector, for which Windar Renovables is reinforcing its corporate structure and is working to increase its capabilities to respond to this challenge and continue to deserve the trust of such important customers". READ MORE
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10/08/2023ScottishPower to repower Scotland’s first commercial windfarm After almost 30 years of service, Scotland’s first commercial windfarm has been powered down in preparation of the site being supercharged to help meet the UK’s Net Zero targets. Operational since 1995, ScottishPower Renewables’ Hagshaw Hill windfarm in South Lanarkshire was at the forefront of wind energy production in Scotland, generating more than 895MWh over its 28-year lifespan. Now the 16MW site is about to undergo a process of repowering, becoming home to 14 new wind turbines with a combined capacity of over 79MW. Once complete, the windfarm will be capable of producing around five times the amount of clean, green energy than before, from just over half the number of turbines. The Hagshaw Hill repowering project is part of ScottishPower Renewables’ wider ambition to maximise the efficiency of its existing sites by replacing older turbines with new, more powerful and efficient models. Barry Carruthers, Onshore Managing Director at ScottishPower Renewables, explains: “A number of our windfarms, like many across the UK, are starting to come to the end of their operational life. But repowering allows us to make these windfarms, sites we know can deliver the green, zero carbon electricity we need to reach Net Zero, more efficient and maximise the power we are getting from them." “Hagshaw Hill is a great example of this. We’ve worked in this area for almost 30 years, we know how good this site is and now we’ll be able to produce enough electricity to power almost 61,000 homes each year - almost half the homes in South Lanarkshire." “Repowering is critical to achieving Net Zero ambitions, but we need to be able to do it faster than current legislation allows. We know these sites, we know how to look after them and we know how much more they can deliver for the UK if we can repower them fast enough.” The project is expected to maintain over 100 jobs at its peak, and even more indirect opportunities during decommissioning and construction for the supply chain. Work is currently underway to disassemble the turbines and prepare the land, with Scottish firm Forsyth of Denny winning the decommissioning contract. ScottishPower Renewables is committed to being the best neighbour within our communities and has, to date, shared over £55m of community benefit across its windfarms. The repowered Hagshaw Hill site will provide an enhanced community benefit package, building on the success of the old site and ensuring Hagshaw Hill leaves a long lasting legacy for its local community. The decommissioning process will continue over the summer and into early autumn, and the delivery of the first new turbine components to site expected in May 2024. The new site should be fully operational by early 2025. READ MORE
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09/08/2023All set to fill in the Alto Tâmega dam The construction of the Alto Tâmega Hydroelectric Power Plant continues to progress at a good pace. The civil works are practically finished and the electromechanical assemblies will be completed by the end of 2023, when commissioning will begin. Alto Tâmega, with 160 MW, is the last of the three developments that make up the Tâmega complex. The other two, Gouvães, an 880 MW pumped-storage plant, and Daivões, with 118 MW, have been in commercial operation since 2022. The Alto Tâmega dam is now fully completed. It is a large, 104.5 m high, 220,000 m3 of concrete and 335 m of crest length, double curvature vault dam. For constructional and thermal reasons, the concreting of the dam was carried out in 21 blocks, which in turn are divided into 2-metre-high sections. The complete concreting of the dam took less than two years and was completed at the end of 2022. During this spring, the injection of the construction joints of the dam has been carried out; once the concrete in place has cooled down during the winter and the opening between the joints is larger. In this way, when the gaps between the blocks are filled, the dam acquires its monolithic character and it is possible to start filling. During this month, the river diversion tunnel has been closed and in the next three months or so, a 28 m long concrete plug will be built inside the tunnel to ensure the closure of the diversion tunnel for the entire life of the facility. During these three months, the flow of the river will continue to circulate through the dam's bottom outlets. The Alto Tâmega reservoir, which will cover an area of 468 ha and have a volume of 132 hm3, will then be filled, providing the water needed for the production of renewable electricity at the Alto Tâmega power plant at the foot of the dam, which will have two units with a total capacity of 160 MW. The construction of this large dam, with its hydroelectric plant at the foot of the dam, is the culmination of a great deal of work in design and execution by a large interdisciplinary team at Iberdrola, which has been directly responsible for licensing, planning, engineering, construction supervision, commissioning, environmental matters, relations with the affected entities of the Portuguese State, relations with local communities, execution of affected services and a wide range of other matters, all of which are necessary to build a facility of this magnitude on time and on schedule. During the construction of the Alto Tâmega Hydroelectric Power Plant, a peak of almost 1,000 workers was reached on site. In the meantime, the electromechanical assembly of the power plant continues and is progressing smoothly according to schedule. The turbines of both units are already fully assembled and the generators are at a very advanced stage of assembly. Once the reservoir has been filled this winter, the first synchronisation of one group to the grid is scheduled for January 2024 and the plant will enter commercial operation in March 2024. It should also be noted that the creation of the Alto Tâmega reservoir has involved, among other things: * Replacement of affected services. Among others, two bridges of approximately 150 m length each, 16 km of access roads, a 9 km footpath, 4 km of power lines, 5 km of telephone lines, the adaptation of a sewage treatment plant, etc. * Compensation measures for ecological systems, framed in the project's EIS. Examples of these measures are the reforestation of more than 1,000 ha, the planting of 17,000 cork oaks, actions to improve the populations of protected flora and fauna, etc. This has been made possible through close and constant collaboration with national and municipal authorities, local communities and other state entities involved. The Tâmega hydroelectric complex is one of the largest energy initiatives in Portugal's history, with a total investment of more than €1.5 billion and an installed capacity of 1,158 MW, 880 of which are reversible. READ MORE
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07/08/2023Neoenergia, Iberdrola’s Brazilian subsidiary, signs its first bilateral green loan with the japanese bank MUFG Iberdrola, through its Brazilian subsidiary Neoenergia, and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) have signed a 150 million Brazilian real (around €28 million) financing agreement to upgrade the distribution network in Neoenergia Brasilia's concession area, which serves around 1.1 million customers in the Federal District. This is the first bilateral green loan between the two organisations and has a duration of two and a half years. The resources will be used for projects aligned with ESG (environmental, social and governance) principles. Neoenergia Brasilia's concession area amounts to 5,780 square kilometres and covers the 33 administrative regions that make up the Federal District. MUFG has been increasing the volume of sustainable financing in Latin America, and the partnership with customers such as Neoenergia is key to this growth. This is the third financing signed between Neoenergia and MUFG, after two agreements in partnership with the Japan International Cooperation Agency. The first transaction, for 768.3 million reais (about €143 million), was carried out in May 2021, with the aim of expanding the distribution network of Neoenergia Coelba, a concessionaire in the state of Bahia that serves about 6.5 million consumers. The second deal was signed this year, for about 703.4 million reais (€131 million), to expand energy distribution in the concession area of Neoenergia Pernambuco, which serves about four million customers. "We are committed to maintaining service excellence to provide sustainable, safe and reliable energy to our customers. The investments will be allocated to projects to expand and strengthen the distribution network, improving the efficiency and quality of energy supply and the well-being of the population of the Federal District," said Frederico Candian, president director of Neoenergia Brasilia. "This transaction is very important for us. We closed MUFG's first bilateral green loan with Neoenergia, deepening the relationship with a relevant client and expanding our portfolio of sustainable businesses. We worked together with Neoenergia to provide the best financial solution for their business needs and the best timing for the transaction. We are pleased with the result," says Juliane Yung, Head of Corporate & Investment Banking for Latin America at MUFG. READ MORE
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07/08/2023Avangrid unveils Vineyard Wind 1 offshore wind substation – The first in the U.S. Avangrid (NYSE: AGR), a leading sustainable energy company and part of the Iberdrola Group, has unveiled the country’s first offshore wind substation at its Vineyard Wind 1 project, the first large-scale offshore wind farm in the U.S. The company was joined by key stakeholders to offer an exclusive first look at the new substation and the ongoing construction off the coast of Massachusetts. “This marks another exciting milestone as we move closer to delivering offshore wind power to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,” said Pedro Azagra, Avangrid CEO. “We’ve been waiting for the opportunity to showcase the hard work our team has been putting in behind the scenes to make Vineyard Wind 1 a reality. This project is pioneering the offshore wind industry for the United States and paving the way for the country’s clean energy future.” Avangrid’s Vineyard Wind 1 offshore substation will collect power generated by the project’s 62 wind turbine generators and bring it to the onshore power grid through two export cables. Vineyard Wind 1 is expected to deliver power before the end of this year and, once completed, the facility will generate 806 MW of clean, renewable energy to power more than 400,000 homes and businesses in Massachusetts. The substation is the first one ever installed in the U.S. and the sixth and largest in the Iberdrola Group’s global fleet to date. So far, Iberdrola has installed five other substations at its West of Duddon Sands (UK), Wikinger (Germany), East Anglia One (UK), St. Brieuc (France), and Baltic Eagle (Germany) offshore wind farms. READ MORE
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03/08/2023Avangrid recognized globally for strong ESG performance on FTSE4Good Index Avangrid, Inc. (NYSE: AGR), a leading sustainable energy company and member of the Iberdrola Group, has announced it has once again been included in the global FTSE4Good Index Series, which measures the performance of companies demonstrating strong Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) practices. This is Avangrid’s sixth consecutive year as a member of the Index and Iberdrola has been ranked on it since 2009. “Our work is rooted in a commitment to take action to address climate change, to focus on our communities, employees and customers and to hold ourselves to the highest ethical standards,” said Pedro Azagra, Avangrid CEO. “For over two decades, the Iberdrola Group has been leading the transition to clean energy and as a member of the Group, Avangrid is a key contributor to some of Iberdrola’s biggest climate goals like carbon neutrality. It is a proud moment to see us earn a significantly higher rating than our U.S. and global peers in climate change action. This demonstrates we’re making progress in building a clean energy future for all.” Created by the global index and data provider FTSE Russell, the FTSE4Good indexes are used by a wide variety of market participants to create and assess responsible investment funds and other products. FTSE Russell evaluations are based on performance in areas such as Corporate Governance, Health & Safety, Anti-Corruption and Climate Change. Businesses included in the FTSE4Good Index Series meet a variety of environmental, social and governance criteria. In its most recent evaluation, Avangrid rated in the top quartile of its peers in FTSE Russell’s Utilities industry subsector for ESG Rating and earned FTSE’s highest score for commitments and actions against climate change and governance, which includes evaluation of risk management, corporate governance and anti-corruption. Furthermore, compared with its U.S. peers, Avangrid was rated more than 40% higher overall and more than 90% higher in environmental areas such as climate change and pollution and resources. Avangrid’s climate action strategy is informed by the leadership of the Iberdrola Group, who have been leading the transition to clean energy and combating climate change for more than two decades while also offering a sustainable and competitive business model that creates value for society. Avangrid’s commitments include the company’s industry-leading target of achieving carbon neutrality for Scopes 1 and 2 emissions by 2030, which is aligned with Iberdrola’s emissions goals that have been certified by the Science-Based Targets Initiative (SBTi). In addition to being included on the FTSE4Good Index Series, Avangrid has earned numerous recognitions this year for its ESG efforts, including being named among the world’s most sustainable companies by S&P Global for the third time, being recognized by JUST Capital as one of America’s best corporate citizens for the third consecutive year and being named among the World’s Most Ethical Companies by Ethisphere for the fifth year in a row. READ MORE
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28/07/2023Iberdrola finalises the purchase of two Greenvolt Power onshore wind farms in Poland Iberdrola has moved forward with its international expansion by completing the purchase of two onshore wind farms in Poland, owned by Greenvolt Power, a subsidiary of Greenvolt Group. The projects are anticipated to come into operation in the second half of the year, with a combined capacity 50-megawatts (MW), producing enough electricity to power 50,000 homes in Poland per year. The projects have been purchased from the Polish company Augusta Energy, owned 50% by Greenvolt Group and 50% by K-Gal. T-Mobile has already agreed a 15-year contract, indexed to inflation, to purchase the clean energy produced by the wind farms. Poland, a growth market Poland, A-rated by the S&P ratings agency, is one of the largest renewable energy markets in the European Union with strong growth in electricity consumption and a commitment to replace coal as the main source of generation, which currently accounts for 71% of the current generation mix. Iberdrola plans to have 1,000 MW of wind and solar PV capacity in operation by 2030 in Poland. The first step in the strategy was the acquisition of 2 onshore wind farms now in operation (Korytnica 1 and Zopowy) in 2021, with a total capacity of 112.5 MW, and an extension project (Korytnica 2) with 50.4 MW, which is now operational . With the completed purchase today, the company now has a capacity of 212.8 MW. Additionally, more than 2,000 MW of Solar PV and onshore wind projects are currently being developed, which are scheduled to be operational between 2025 and 2030. Since Poland is one of the main markets for the Greenvolt Group in the development of its strategy of promoting, developing, and building large-scale wind and solar projects. Currently, of the 6.9 GW pipeline 2.9 GW will be at least at ready-to-build stage by the end of the year and a total of 3.4 GW are located in Poland. Alongside the development of large-scale wind and solar photovoltaic projects in several European and American markets, the Greenvolt Group is also present in the strategic segment of distributed generation, operating in the business and residential segments in six geographies. In the production of energy from residual biomass, it operates in Portugal and the United Kingdom. READ MORE
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27/07/2023Iberdrola invests €10.54 billion in the last 12 months and increases its net profit by 21% to €2.52 billion . READ MORE
