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The Chairman of Iberdrola, Ignacio Galán, today hosted the meeting of the CEO Alliance for Europe, the cross-sectoral group made up of some of the continent's largest companies, where he called for accelerating the transformation of industry towards new, more sustainable models that stimulate growth, create quality jobs, ensure energy supply, protect the environment and maximise the contribution of companies to society.

The meeting, which was held at Iberdrola's headquarters in Madrid, was opened by the Minister, Reyes Maroto, who highlighted the Government's shock plans to tackle the "uncertain" moment we are living through as a result of the war in Ukraine and agreed that the emergency measures must also include a "long-range" approach.

This is in line with the Alliance's goal to make the EU the world's leading climate protection region, while unlocking investment, boosting innovation in new technologies and creating future-proof jobs.

For Galán, the CEO Alliance's mission "is to continue working together and collaborate with national and European authorities to achieve public policies that will help us attract more investment to the continent and accelerate our transformation and the decarbonisation of Europe, because we believe this is the best way to create jobs and the future".

Created in 2020 against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic and the historic Green Deal, the Alliance is made up of 14 leading European companies representing all major industrial sectors, from automotive to telecoms, technology and electricity, with some 2 million employees and annual revenues of €560 billion. 

The group believes that the vision of a more prosperous, sustainable and resilient Europe, focused on decarbonisation and digitalisation, will require a collective effort by all member states, but also collaboration between the public sector and industry.

In this respect, the Alliance is already undertaking joint projects that focus on the future competitiveness of green technologies. 

In October 2021, E. ON, Enel and Iberdrola, together with ABB and SAP, announced their cooperation to build a green hydrogen value chain - leveraging their competitive advantage in renewable energy production in Southern Europe - to supply green hydrogen and green ammonia to industrial sites in Central and Northern Europe.

The group was also responsible for the agreement between Iberdrola and H2 Green Steel to build a green hydrogen plant to be located on the Iberian Peninsula, with a capacity of 1,000 MW and an estimated investment of 2.3 billion euros. It will power a furnace to produce around 2 million tonnes of pure green steel per year, achieving a 95% reduction in CO2 emissions.

The plenary, moderated by the former European Commissioner for Climate Action, Connie Hedegaard, and chaired by the Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism, Reyes Maroto - who signed the company's Book of Honour.

Members of the alliance are the Chairman of Volkswagen AG and the European CEO Alliance, Herbert Diess, Morten Wierod (ABB Group); Henrik Henriksson (H2 Green Steel); Frans Van Houten (Royal Philips Electronics); Leonhard Birnbaum (E. ON); Christian Levin (Scania Group); Peter Weckesser (Schneider Electric); Börje Ekholm (Ericsson); Anders Danielsson (Skanska); Andrea Orcel (UniCredit) and, telematically, Thierry Vanlancker (Akzo Nobel NV) and Francesco Starace (Enel Group).