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17/01/2017Iberdrola, only Spanish electric utility among 100 most sustainable companies worldwide IBERDROLA has been selected for yet another year as one of the 100 most sustainable companies in the world, according to the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World index drawn up by the prestigious publication Corporate Knights . The company is the only Spanish utility to be included in this annual ranking. The names of the companies selected for this index were presented today during the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, which is being held in Davos-Klosters (Switzerland). Some 5,000 companies from the industrial sector worldwide, with a market cap in excess of US$2 billion, were analysed in the process of drawing up this ranking. Corporate Knights takes 14 quantitative key performance indicators into account when deciding on the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World. Most of these focus on three core issues: how natural resources, finances and people are managed. Other factors that are considered are companies’ scale as distributors, their commitment to innovation - an area to which Iberdrola allocates some €200 million a year - and their contribution to achieving clearer air for all by reducing their emissions. To this end, Iberdrola has a strong commitment to combating climate change and has pledged to reduce the intensity of its emissions by 50% by the year 2030 compared to 2007 levels, and to be carbon-neutral by 2050. At present, two-thirds of the group’s installed capacity are emissions-free. Diversity also plays an important role in the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World and one of the aspects assessed is the presence of women on the Board of Directors. In this regard, there are five female members in IBERDROLA’s most senior management body - over 35% of the total - and all of its consultative committees - the Audit and Risk Supervision Committee, the Appointments Committee, the Remuneration Committee and the Corporate Social Responsibility Committee - are chaired by women. READ MORE
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13/01/2017Iberdrola inspects 53,000 kilometres of power lines in Spain in 2016 to boost security of supply In 2016 Iberdrola Distribución inspected over 53,000 km of power lines in Spain to boost the security of supply, with the ultimate goal of improving the quality of the service it offers its customers. The company inspected very high, high and medium voltage power lines to guarantee their reliability and optimal functioning even in adverse weather conditions. Iberdrola inspected some 33,500 kilometres of overhead power lines and an additional 9,600 kilometres of underground power lines last year. It also conducted thermographic testing on 7,400 km and performed pruning and maintenance work on electricity corridors spanning 2,500 km. The inspections on these overhead power lines are geared towards detecting possible anomalies in the elements that make up this type of installations: insulators, conductors, fittings, pylons, etc. that are damaged by lightning, trees, construction work or adjacent buildings, for example. The company also performed infra-red or thermographic tests on some 7,400 km of overhead power lines. This kind of inspection of electricity infrastructure is performed with special cameras transported by helicopter or by a team of workers on the ground. It allows to measure the temperature of the installations, thereby detecting the spots where temperatures are too high (“hot spots”) so that they can be corrected and supply can be guaranteed in the event of peak demand. IBERDROLA also carried out cleaning operations in the corridors through which its lines pass, pruning the trees that posed the greatest risk of coming into contact with about 2,500 km of power lines. This power line inspection campaign is part of the company’s work to improve its electricity installations, with a view to improving the quality and security of its energy supply on an ongoing basis. Company achieves best ever quality of supply in 2016 Iberdrola Distribución recorded the best figure ever for the quality of its electricity supply in Spain, ending the year with a 12% improvement on 2015 and a network availability rate of 99.99%. This progressive improvement in the quality of service that IBERDROLA offers its customers is due to the investments made on new electrical distribution infrastructure and the maintenance and renovation of existing facilities, as well as the ongoing roll-out of the STAR smart meter installation scheme in Spain and the associated plan for grid supervision and automation. It should be noted that the interruptions in service scheduled to enable this work to be carried out are also included for the general figure on service availability. This means that if these outages for scheduled work on the network had been left out, the improvement in quality would have been even more significant. With some 9 million smart meters installed in Spain, Iberdrola is one of the first companies in the world to attain this volume of equipment installed and connected. It has also adapted its distribution network at the same time by adding the real-time supervision and automation capabilities. Apart from meeting the official schedule for the roll-out of remote management, the company also intends to use this roll-out as a springboard for technological evolution and upgrading its grid by digitising and automating it with the new smart grid technologies. READ MORE
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12/01/2017Iberdrola and the Royal Spanish Rugby Federation present the Iberdrola Honorary Division Iberdrola and the Royal Spanish Rugby Federation presented the Iberdrola Honorary Division today at an event held at the headquarters of the Higher Council for Sport. This championship will be launched this Sunday, with the eight best women’s rugby teams at national level taking part. The Head of Sponsorship at Iberdrola, Carmen Cabrera; the Director of the Higher Council for Sport, Jaime González, and the Chairman of the Spanish Rugby Federation, Alfonso Feijoo, announced the company’s support for this competition, which makes it the main sponsor behind women’s rugby. Iberdrola has been sponsoring the “lionesses” - the National Senior Women’s Rugby Team - since October. Under the terms of this agreement, it has extended its support for the sport with the oval ball and is now the official sponsor of the National Women’s Competition. This means that what used to be called the Honorary Women’s Division League will now be called the Iberdrola Honorary Division. It will also have a new logo. Speaking on behalf of the Spanish Rugby Federation, Alfonso Feijoo said he was pleased to welcome this new sponsor, which shares the values that rugby represents, such as teamwork, solidarity, integrity, respect, passion and commitment. The Federation believes that the drive and energy of Iberdrola, which have already helped the lionesses become European champions and qualify for the World Cup in Ireland in 2016, will give the players in the Honorary Division the recognition and importance they deserve, READ MORE
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09/01/2017Ferrovial to build Gouvães hydroelectric power plant worth €80 million for Iberdrola in Portugal The consortium headed by Ferrovial Agroman, which includes the participation of the local company MSF, was selected by Iberdrola to build the Gouvães hydroelectric power plant on the River Tâmega in Northern Portugal. The contract involves the investment of over €80 million and the deadline for completion is 47 months. The project includes the construction of the main cavern, measuring 120 metres long, 20 metres wide and 44 metres high. It will contain 4 generators with a capacity of 220 MW each (880 MW in total), as well as a cavern for transformers measuring 80 metres long, 17 metres wide and 14 metres high. Ferrovial Agroman will also be in charge of the excavation work for five kilometres of galleries, including 8 vertical shafts with a maximum height of 320 metres and a 7 m diameter. The Gouvães power plant is the third contract that Iberdrola has awarded the construction subsidiary of Ferrovial as part of the Hydroelectric Complex on the River Tâmega. The company was selected in May 2016 to build the Daivões dam and power plant, which is in progress. Prior to that, it had built the access tunnel to the Gouvães power plant and the exploratory shafts for the Tâmega project. Ferrovial Agroman has extensive experience in carrying out this type of projects abroad. It is currently working on the Los Cóndores hydroelectric power plant in Chile and it also built the tunnels for the Ituango hydroelectric power plant in Colombia. About Ferrovial Ferrovial is one of the world's leading infrastructure operators and municipal services companies, committed to developing sustainable solutions. The company has 96,000 employees and a presence in some twenty countries. Its main areas of activity are: Motorways, Services, Construction and Airports. It is included in the IBEX 35 index as well as prestigious sustainability indices such as the Dow Jones Sustainability and FTSE4Good. It applies the principles of the United Nations Global Compact, which the company endorsed in 2002, in all its operations. About IBERDROLA Iberdrola’s international expansion has enabled it to rise to the top of the rankings and become a world leader in clean energies. It is one of the top electric utilities in the world by market cap, with over 28,000 employees and some 30 million customers. IBERDROLA’s international prestige is largely due to the hard work, commitment and transparency of its suppliers. The company appreciates their effort and is committed to advancing together to successfully complete all its plans in the energy sector. READ MORE
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05/01/2017Iberdrola’s La Plana III wind farm completes 20 years in operation Iberdrola’s La Plana III wind farm recently completed 20 years in operation since it was commissioned in late 1996. It is the company’s first wind power facility in Spain to reach this milestone and it has done so in perfect conditions. In that time, the wind farm has registered a net output of almost 950 gigawatt hours (GWh), the equivalent to the approximate annual consumption of a city with 726,000 inhabitants - similar to the size of Zaragoza - with an availability rate of more than 98%. The La Plana III wind farm is located in the municipality of La Muela, in Zaragoza. Its total capacity is 21 megawatts (MW), mostly supplied by Gamesa brand wind turbines. The positive figures for output and availability registered by La Plana III are due to the implementation of various efficiency programmes in operation and maintenance that have been developed by Iberdrola over the years. The main lines of action were optimising the management of the maintenance service provided by supplier firms and enhancing the operation activities carried out by in-house personnel. This has led to improvements in the efficiency of the operations conducted on the ground and in the availability rate for the facilities. Leading company in installed wind capacity in Spain IBERDROLA is the leading company in the production of wind power in Spain, where its aggregate wind power capacity amounts to over 5,500 MW in various autonomous regions: Castile-La Mancha (1,804 MW), Castile and León (1,453 MW), Andalusia (857 MW), Galicia (627 MW), Aragon (305 MW), Murcia Region (161 MW), Basque Country (143 MW), Asturias (74 MW), Catalonia (50 MW) and Cantabria (32 MW). It is important to note that the company has contributed to the development of the rural areas where it set up its wind farms, by promoting jobs for local employees and backing economic revival in towns that benefit from hosting one of these facilities. As part of its historical commitment to clean energies, IBERDROLA has been a pioneer in developing wind power in Spain from the outset. The company has also promoted the creation of an important national industrial sector specialising in this technology, helping it to expand abroad by including it in the various projects it is currently carrying out elsewhere in the world. READ MORE
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04/01/2017Iberdrola constructs the Daivões power station tunnel - the first milestone in the Tâmega hydroelectirc power project (Portugal) Iberdrola has successfully completed the first of the major milestones set for the Tâmega project (in Portugal), namely the excavation of the diversion tunnel to feed the Daivões hydroelectric power station. The tunnel in question has a length of approximately 400 metres (1300 ft) and since work began it has taken Iberdrola less than one hundred days to excavate and shore it up, which goes to show just how efficient and experienced Iberdrola is when it comes to this type of hydroelectric engineering projects. Now that this construction phase is completed, Iberdrola will set to work on the inner concrete reinforcement lining and the cofferdams, which will enable them to divert the Tâmega river so that the construction of the dam and the Daivões power plant can begin. The Daivões power station will be served by a dam with a height of 77.5 metres (255 ft) to feed two turbines, with a combined installed power of 114 MW and a production of 142 GWh. There will also be an additional 4 MW turbine that will add 17 GWh to the power station's output. The Tâmega complex will comprise three large dams: Gouvães, Tâmega and Daivões, and altogether the associated electricity generating facilities will have an installed capacity of 1,158 MW and be capable of producing more than 1,760 GWh per year. The construction work is being carried out on the Tâmega river in the north of Portugal, close to the city of Porto, and involves an investment of over 1.5 billion euros. It is estimated that the execution of this much-needed energy infrastructure will provide 3,500 direct and 10,000 indirect jobs throughout the construction phase. Iberdrola currently has a project management and works supervision team made up of 54 people, and this number will rise as high as 165 during the most intense phases of the works. One of the key points in this initiative, both for Iberdrola and for the Portuguese Government, is the creation of local employment in the area of the project, helping to revitalise the local economy and provide quality jobs for a large number of Portuguese companies. The aim is for this project to bring growth to the Tâmega area over the next few years. In fact, it is estimated that the execution of this energy infrastructure will create 3,500 direct and 10,000 indirect jobs during the construction phase. Furthermore, an operation and maintenance team shall be subsequently created for each of the power stations and it is hoped that they will be manned by a local workforce. One of Iberdrola’s priorities in all of its projects is for its eventual work teams to be staffed by employees from the regions in which they are implemented. This initiative proves Iberdrola’s commitment to clean power generation technologies, including pumped storage and projects to develop marine wind power. Pumped storage is currently the most efficient power storage method, and the Tâmega river complex is going to have a storage capacity equivalent to 300,000 homes. The leader in power storage in Europe as a result of pumped storage Iberdrola is an eminent figure in power storage, with 4,400 MW installed via pumped hydroelectric storage. They also boast the largest facility of this kind in Europe: the Cortes-La Muela complex in Valencia. These power plants are a safety net for the electrical power system, where power can be stored in an elevated reservoir by filling it with water pumped from a lower reservoir. This water is then used to produce electricity by passing it through a turbine to the reservoir below, generating a large amount of power at a very fast response rate, without releasing any kind of emissions into the atmosphere. Pumped hydroelectric power plants provide supplementary services to the system and the capacity to supply reserve power using the excess energy generated during low consumption periods, which helps to cover market demand during peak times. READ MORE
