News
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22/07/2022Iberdrola launches its new website reinforcing its global leadership in the energy transition Iberdrola renews its corporate website and takes another step forward in its global digital transformation model to adapt this communication channel to the interests of its hundreds of thousands of international visitors, which is why the website modulates the contents and messages in the three languages, Spanish, English and Portuguese. With the aim of improving and evolving its online presence, the new design is a real step forward in terms of user experience, as it is a more accessible, user-friendly and useful space. A new clear and innovative narrative structure has been defined, prioritising ESG criteria - environmental, social and governance - and facilitating access to the most relevant information. Navigation is more intuitive and able to adapt to any device, thus optimising the user experience, both nationally and internationally. The new corporate website prioritises graphic material to transmit information in a direct and attractive manner. The inclusion of new animated infographics opens the door to a more interactive space where the user is just a few clicks away from learning more about clean energy, as well as the activity of Iberdrola, an international benchmark in the energy sector. Facilitating access to information for the different stakeholders has been one of the priorities of the project. For this reason, the redesign also contemplates a distribution of content, starting from the home page, which helps users to access Iberdrola's news and its role as a world leader in innovation and renewable energies more quickly. Iberdrola's role as a benchmark in renewable energies The website highlights Iberdrola's role as a key player in the world's main markets and as a benchmark in offshore and onshore wind, green hydrogen, photovoltaic energy, self-consumption, electric mobility and smart grids, among others. All of this with a content production strategy aligned with ESG criteria, a cornerstone of Iberdrola's values. The website will incorporate new functionalities, such as a preferential space for the company's corporate events agenda, which will include the milestones in which Iberdrola plays a key role, the company's main facilities and projects as a reflection of its innovation, its purpose and its social contribution, and the essential role of employees and stakeholders. New CMS and SEO reinforcement Iberdrola.com is the first corporate website of the energy group to use Liferay, a content management system (CMS) that optimises publications, ensuring the quality and updating of content and improving publication times. Its flexibility allows the website to adapt to a constantly changing and innovative digital environment and to meet information and multimedia needs. The platform also has advanced security measures to ensure the stability of the service and personalise the digital experiences of a global audience. Throughout the process of implementing Liferay and in the redesign, the analysis and application of SEO (search engine optimisation) best practices was also key to achieving greater visibility on Google for Iberdrola's main pillars of communication, taking into account the interests of the audience and also starting a process of adapting content by region. Furthermore, the development of the website has been based on compliance with the Web 2.1 Content Accessibility Guidelines established by the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium). Iberdrola thus reaffirms its commitment to promote accessibility on its corporate website so that everyone can access it, and has recently obtained the Double A certificate of Accessibility of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 of the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) of the World Wide Web Consortium for the content relating to the General Shareholders' Meeting. The project was carried out in collaboration with the digital transformation and communication company Prodigioso Volcán , which conceptualised and collaborated directly in the execution of the new design. With profound changes, both in terms of design and in the more technical and functional sphere, Iberdrola is refreshing its visual identity and its presence in the digital environment. READ MORE
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21/07/2022Iberdrola signs a €550m green loan with the EIB to boost renewables in Spain The European Investment Bank (EIB) and Iberdrola have signed a new agreement to accelerate Spain's energy transition by developing new renewable capacity. The EU Bank will provide a €550 million green loan for the construction of a portfolio of projects with a total capacity of around 1,800 megawatts (MW). These facilities will produce green and competitive energy equivalent to the average annual consumption of around one million households. The total investment in the wind farms will amount to more than 1.1 billion euros. Overall, the new infrastructure will create around 2,100 jobs per year during the construction phase, to which must be added those generated in the operation phase, as well as those created in other related sectors. All this gives this agreement a significant capacity to contribute to the sustainable recovery of the economy and job creation. In addition, the operation has a strategic value, as it is aimed at strengthening European energy self-sufficiency with renewable energies. The EIB will finance photovoltaic plants and wind farms in a number of Spanish municipalities, mainly in rural areas of Castilla y León and Extremadura, considered cohesion regions by the European Union. Part of the funding will go to projects such as the 200 MW Tagus and 80 MW Almaraz photovoltaic plants in Extremadura and the 50 MW Valdemoro wind farm in Castilla y León. These investments will not only increase the generation of clean energy, but also improve security of supply. EIB Vice-President Ricardo Mourinho Félix said: "The new green loan signed with Iberdrola enables us to step up our contribution to making Spain a country with increased renewable capacity, a key factor for Europe to achieve its climate targets. As the EU Bank, we continue to support projects in line with our 'Climate Roadmap', while at the same time boosting Europe's security of energy supply in the current sensitive context. We are pleased to support Iberdrola in projects that will generate economic growth and jobs in the cohesion regions". Iberdrola's CEO, Ignacio Galán, explained that: "This financing agreement, which further strengthens our cooperation with the EIB, is a new boost for our projects in Spain at an important time when we need to speed up the energy transition and reduce our dependence on fossil fuels". The financing signed with the EIB is also in line with "Iberdrola's commitment to a sustainable energy model that will enable the transition to a low-carbon economy", said Galán. This operation contributes to the EU target of reaching 32% of energy from renewable sources in gross final energy consumption by 2030, as set out in the EU's new RES (Renewable Energy Sources) Directive, which the European Commission has recently proposed to increase to a level of 45%. In addition, it favours the fulfilment of the Spanish renewable energy targets for 2030 of 42%, established in the National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan (PNIEC) 2021-2030. As the loan is 100% eligible under the climate action/renewable energy framework (as it is dedicated to onshore wind and solar photovoltaic projects), the operation can be considered as an EIB Green Loan. This is a type of financing whose characteristics fully comply with the requirements defined in the EIB's Climate Awareness Bonds (CAB) programme. The transaction is therefore eligible for allocation to its portfolio of lending operations financed through the issuance of CABs. READ MORE
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21/07/2022Biden visits Iberdrola's offshore wind farm in the USA The President of the United States, Joe Biden, today visited one of the facilities that form part of the plan of Iberdrola's listed subsidiary in the country for the construction of offshore wind projects in New England. The electricity company chaired by Ignacio Galán will invest $10 billion in these projects over the course of this decade. The three offshore wind farms are already under construction or advanced development, and all have long-term power sales contracts in Massachusetts and Connecticut. They will have a total capacity of 2,800 MW, create nearly 11,000 new jobs and provide emission-free power for nearly 1.6 million homes and businesses.The first of the three wind farms, Vineyard Wind , will be the first large-scale wind farm in the United States and will start producing power by the end of next year. Iberdrola is thus demonstrating its pioneering nature in this sector in the United States. As part of the proposal made in the award of the third of the offshore wind farms, Commonwealth Wind , Iberdrola committed to develop Massachusetts' first offshore wind cable manufacturing facility on the site of a former coal plant in Somerset, Massachusetts (Brayton Point), which Joe Biden visited today. The factory, which will create numerous local jobs, is expected to open in early 2026 and will supply cables to Iberdrola Commonwealth Wind projects such as Park City Wind . Biden met with the Chairman of Iberdrola, Ignacio Galán, and was accompanied by 25 US authorities and businessmen. Also present were the President's National Climate Advisor and former head of the US Environmental Agency, Gina McCarthy, and several members of Congress from Massachusetts. The US President's visit to the future offshore wind cable manufacturing facility is a statement of intent for the country's new energy policy. The three parks Vineyard Wind, with 800 MW of installed capacity and an investment of €2.5 billion, will be one of Iberdrola's largest in the world. In December 2021, the company was awarded a contract for the Commonwealth Wind offshore wind farm in Massachusetts. The 1,232 MW facility, the largest offshore wind project in New England to date, will involve an investment of $4 billion. Also under development in the same area is Park City Wind, an 804 MW project that will supply clean energy to customers in Connecticut, while revitalising the Port of Bridgeport, home to the operation and maintenance office and warehouse for the components for construction. The project is expected to be completed in 2027. Growth story Iberdrola's history in the United States is a success story. In less than two decades, the company chaired by Ignacio Galán has become, through its listed subsidiary in the country, one of the largest groups in the North American electricity sector, listed since 2015 on the New York Stock Exchange. It has contributed to Iberdrola becoming the most valuable company on the Spanish stock exchange with a market capitalisation of €61,000 million and the leading European energy company. The firm is present in 25 states and manages more than 9,300 MW of installed capacity, of which more than 8,500 MW of renewables (mainly wind and solar PV), and more than 170,000 kilometres of power lines through eight distributors in New York, Connecticut, Maine and Massachusetts. In addition, the Spanish company has a portfolio of high-quality renewable projects in the United States of more than 22,000 MW, which represent a stable platform for continued growth over the next few years as the country meets its decarbonisation targets. In addition to being one of the three largest wind and solar energy companies in the United States, Iberdrola is a leader in offshore wind, with a portfolio of more than 5,300 MW at the end of the first quarter of 2022. Iberdrola also owns the Kitty Hawk development area (2,500 MW) in the waters off North Carolina and Virginia and has begun the process of obtaining permits from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) for the Kitty Hawk North wind farm (800 MW), the first project planned in this area. Thanks to the company's commitment to renewable energies, Avangrid's CO₂ emissions intensity was already 6.5 times lower than the average for US utilities at the end of the last financial year. READ MORE
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19/07/2022Mario Ruiz-Tagle, new CEO of Iberdrola España Iberdrola España has appointed Mario Ruiz-Tagle as its new CEO. Born in Santiago (Chile), he was until now CEO of Neoenergia, Iberdrola's Brazilian subsidiary chaired by Ignacio Galán. Ruiz-Tagle, who has been linked to the energy sector since 1996, began his career at Iberdrola two decades ago as director of Institutional Relations of the Brazilian subsidiary; in 2004 he was appointed Business Director of Iberdrola's Latin America department and six years later he became Country Manager of Iberdrola Brazil. In 2017, the year in which Neoenergia incorporated Elektro Redes, Mario Ruiz-Tagle was appointed CEO and in July 2019 he led the successful capital opening process. Neoenergia has been one of the Iberdrola group's growth vectors, especially in recent years. Iberdrola's Brazilian subsidiary, of which the parent company controls 53.5%, has gone from earning 303 million Brazilian reais (around €55.8 million) in 2016 to 3.925 billion reais (€722 million), which means multiplying its net profit by 13 in five years. In the first quarter of this financial year, Neoenergia earned 20% more than in the same period of 2021, BRL1.212 billion (€223 million), and accounted for one-fifth of the group's overall result. The new CEO of Iberdrola's Spanish subsidiary will be responsible for the country's income statement and for representing the company before government bodies and external institutions. Iberdrola España was established in June 2014, when the new governance model of the Iberdrola group was completed, which already had similar companies in the rest of its reference markets. Married and father of four children, Mario Ruiz-Tagle holds a degree in Law and Social Sciences from the Universidad Diego Portales, in Santiago de Chile, and a Master's degree in Business Administration and Finance from the Universidad Pontificia Católica de Chile. READ MORE
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19/07/2022Iberdrola will provide free advice to NGOs for general interest purposes Iberdrola's legal professionals will provide free voluntary legal advice to non-profit organisations wherever the group has a presence. The beneficiary entities must lack the resources to meet the expense and have a purpose that pursues the general interest. This is the first time that the professionals of a Spanish business group have carried out this initiative jointly and globally. The Iberdrola group's Legal Services have promoted the launch of what is officially known as the 'pro bono juridico' programme. In order for the initiative to be implemented, Iberdrola's legal professionals who wish to carry out this activity must voluntarily join, and this assistance must not affect their work duties. Neither the company nor the professional will receive any remuneration from the beneficiary and the service will be of the highest quality. The Iberdrola group's Legal Services understands that, in line with the company's social commitment, this initiative is part of the ethical and professional responsibility required of legal professionals. It also responds to the concerns of the group's professionals, which have been heightened by the adverse social context. "Our aim is to promote access to justice for those most in need, in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In addition, we want to commit to the global agenda through law as a tool that transforms and multiplies the social impact", the Legal Services of the entity specify. In this way, Iberdrola contributes to the development of a fairer and more sustainable society, extending the qualified value of its legal professionals. This programme represents a further contribution by Iberdrola to the fulfilment of its ESG commitments . It is a way of creating sustainable value that supports and benefits the communities where it is present. Requests for assistance may be received through different channels. Of particular importance will be those received through the foundations linked to the Iberdrola group.This social commitment of Iberdrola's legal professionals will be carried out during working hours. The aim is to contribute to the improvement of the societies in which the company operates. The aim is to improve the living conditions of the neediest people through the actions of non-profit organisations. READ MORE
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17/07/2022Iberdrola inaugurates the Tâmega Gigabattery in Portugal The Prime Minister of Portugal, António Costa, and the Chairman of Iberdrola, Ignacio Galán, inaugurated this morning in Portugal the Tâmega Gigabattery, the largest clean energy project in Portugal's history. It is a large hydroelectric storage project that has been under construction for almost eight years and has involved an investment of more than 1.5 billion euros in Portugal. The event was also attended by the Portuguese Minister for the Environment and Climate Action, Duarte Cordeiro, the Secretary of State for the Environment and Energy, João Galamba, and the presidents of the Municipal Chambers of Ribeira de Pena, Vila Pouca de Aguilar, Boticas, Chaves, Montalegre and Cabeceiras de Basto. Nearly two hundred people, including suppliers, employees, local and national authorities and journalists from Spain and Portugal witnessed this event, which represents an international milestone in the field of technology, civil works and environmental investment. With a capacity of 1,158 MW, the Tâmega electrical power production system is capable of storing 40 million kWh, equivalent to the energy consumed by 11 million people during 24 hours in their homes, making it one of the largest energy storage systems in Europe. The complex is made up of three power plants - Alto Tâmega, Daivões and Gouvães - and, thanks to its pumping capacity, can store energy to be used when it is most needed; a cycle of energy efficiency and true circular economy that will increase the total installed electrical power in Portugal and avoid the emission of 1.2 million tonnes of CO2 per year - without quantifying many millions more thanks to the renewable energy that can be integrated into the system - furthering the fight against climate change. This major engineering project, on which several thousand people have worked, will prevent the importation of more than 160,000 tonnes of oil per year, consolidating its position as a socio-economic and job-creating driving force in the region. In addition, the construction of the complex in this area of northern Portugal has been accompanied by an ambitious plan of social, cultural and environmental actions, benefiting seven municipalities, to which more than 50 million euros have been allocated. As Ignacio Galán pointed out, the development of this large complex has been possible thanks to the environment of legal stability and good dialogue achieved by the Portuguese government in recent years. Furthermore, this infrastructure demonstrates that the two major goals of Europe's energy policy, energy independence and decarbonisation, are perfectly compatible as long as work is done to electrify the economic and production system. During his speech, Ignacio Galán also announced that the company will be able to double the investments made in the Gigabattery in the coming years, reaching €3 billion, which will be allocated to new wind farms and solar plants already under development or construction. Iberdrola thus continues its strategy of sustainable growth that has positioned it as the largest electricity company in Europe, after investing €140 billion in the last 20 years and supporting more than 19,000 companies with its purchases, through which it generates 400,000 jobs. In tax contributions alone, Iberdrola allocates €8 billion each year in the more than 30 countries where we are present. READ MORE
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15/07/2022Iberdrola has increased its installed capacity by 3,150 MW in the last twelve months Iberdrola remains faithful to its commitment to promoting the energy transition as the only way to accelerate decarbonisation and eliminate dependence on fossil fuels. Accordingly, the company has increased its installed renewable capacity by 9% worldwide in the last 12 months, to almost 39,000 MW - specifically 38,722 MW 'green' - according to data published today in the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) . This represents an increase of 3,150 MW in the last financial year. With this advance, the company exceeds 59,522 MW of total capacity in the world, after increasing it by 6.6% in the last year. In this way, the Iberdrola group is making progress on its historic investment plan of 75,000 million euros by 2025, with which it aims to reach 60,000 MW of renewable installed capacity by 2025, which will exceed 90,000 MW by 2030. Energy production stood at 83,255 GWh in the first half of the year. This figure was achieved despite the negative half-year for renewables, so that own production with 'green' energy fell by 1.5% to 40,446 GWh. Acceleration of solar energy This increase in renewable capacity was recorded in all the core countries where it operates - Spain (+9.3%), the United States (+6.2%), Brazil (+14.7%), the United Kingdom (+2%), as well as in its new renewable growth platforms, grouped in the subsidiary Iberdrola Energía Internacional, which increased its capacity by 20% to 2,371 MW in the last twelve months. By technology, Iberdrola's photovoltaic capacity increased by 56% in the last financial year -with 1,240 MW of new installed capacity- and reached 3,448 MW at the end of the first half of 2022. This strong momentum is mainly due to the incorporation of almost 800 MW in Spain, more than 240 MW in the United States and more than 170 MW in the rest of the world. Also noteworthy is the growth in wind energy, where the group reinforced its global leadership, with a 4.4% increase in this technology - both onshore and offshore - to 20,942 MW: 1,258 MW offshore and 19,683 MW onshore. READ MORE
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14/07/2022Iberdrola signs a new sustainable credit facility for €2.5 billion at very competitive conditions Iberdrola continues to strengthen its leadership in sustainable financing. The group has signed with 24 banks of different nationalities a new credit line linked to sustainability indicators for €2.5 billion. The cost of this operation is at historic lows for Iberdrola, with prices similar to those of its last operations of this type - in March 2019 and April 2021 - and demonstrates the support for Iberdrola despite the current volatility of the markets. The facility signed has a term of five years, extendable for a further two years, and is multi-currency. The conditions obtained underscore the interest and confidence in the Group's solvency and strategy. The operation contributes to fulfilling its commitment to maintain adequate liquidity, which at the end of March 2022 amounted to more than €21 billion. This new credit line is subject to two sustainability indicators -the reduction in the consumption of water used in power generation and the rating assigned to Iberdrola by the independent agency CDP Water- related to the environmental sphere. Based on compliance, the margin of the operation may be adjusted downwards (if met) or upwards (if not met) on an annual basis. Iberdrola, aware of the importance of the use of water in the management of its activities, wishes to make a significant contribution to SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation. Two billion people still lack access to safely managed drinking water, 25% of the world's population lives in countries facing extremely high water stress, and only 54% of the world's population uses safely managed water. At the same time, climate change and the energy transition are altering supply and demand patterns in ways that are difficult to predict. In fact, each degree of global warming is projected to decrease renewable water resources by at least 20% for an additional 7% of the world's population. The idea comes at a time of heightened environmental awareness, with a particular focus on water concerns. Indeed, the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow in November 2021, which brought together 120 world leaders and more than 40,000 registered participants, dedicated, for the first time, an entire day to water-related issues. The Iberdrola Group aims to issue most of its debt instruments under a green or sustainable format. Until now, many of the credit lines were already focused on contributing to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 7 and 13 (clean and accessible energy and combating climate change), so this new operation is focused on the impact on water management, promoting the reduction of water consumption in electricity production and seeking recognition from investors in the management thereof. In the operation, BBVA acted as agent bank and coordinating bank in sustainability matters. With the agreement signed today, more than 90% of the company's credit lines are sustainable. The company was already a pioneer in this type of operation in 2018, with the closing of the largest credit operation under sustainability criteria worldwide, amounting to 5.9 billion euros. The transaction signed today is in line with the LMA (Loan Market Association) Sustainability-Linked Loan Principles and has an SPO (Second Party Opinion) from Moody's ESG Solutions. Global leader in sustainable and green finance Iberdrola has established itself as a global benchmark in sustainable financing, being the first group in the world to issue green bonds , after being the first Spanish company to open this market in 2014. In 2016, the company also underwrote the first green loan for an energy company, in the amount of €500 million. At the end of March 2022, the group already had green financing or financing linked to sustainability criteria amounting to more than €41 billion, of which more than €16 billion corresponds to green bonds. This approach to financing responds to the historic investment plan launched by Iberdrola, which envisages investments of €75 billion until 2025, aimed at doubling its renewable capacity to 60,000 MW and placing the value of its network assets at €47 billion. A plan that aims to promote the decarbonisation of the economy and, with it, economic recovery and employment, and which provides for investments of €150 billion by 2030, with which the group will reach an installed capacity of close to 100,000 MW. READ MORE
