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HM the King of Spain, accompanied by the Executive Chairman of Iberdrola, Ignacio Galán, presided over a day of support for young talent and excellence, during which he presented the Scholarships related to the various training programmes promoted by Iberdrola and its Foundation for 2022-2023.

During the event, which took place at the company's headquarters, Galán thanked the Crown for its "continued involvement in promoting talent and employability" while stating that, for Iberdrola, "people are at the centre of all economic and social activity, and this is what I believe really makes a company great, its social commitment and its sensitivity to the needs of the environment, its social dividend".

Iberdrola's social dividend encompasses its environmental commitment; its 12,000 volunteers; the more than €350 million spent annually on innovation; and the fact that, over the past twelve months alone, close to 4,500 new professionals have joined the group.

Iberdrola continues to have a pull effect on thousands of suppliers through its global investments and procurement, valued at approximately €18 billion, with which it supports more than 400,000 jobs across its value chain. Moreover, through this activity, it contributed more than €7.8 billion to taxation authorities in 2022. The company promotes, attracts, and manages talent through different processes and programmes implemented by its Foundation and its Talent area.

Today, men and women who are an example of success in several different fields took the floor to share their experiences after receiving training funded by the company's post-graduate scholarships and through the Impulsa Programme, the Electricians' School and the agreement signed between the electricity company and UNICEF, among others.

Finally, the scholarship beneficiaries received from His Majesty the King the diploma certifying the award of the various grants created by Iberdrola with the aim of promoting talent and encouraging excellence in the training of new generations.

The Scholarships include the following programmes:

• Iberdrola International Master's Scholarship Programme: with the current call for applications for Spain, the United Kingdom, Mexico and Brazil, young people will boost their professional careers thanks to this line of financial support. They will complete their postgraduate training at prestigious universities with professional opportunities for the future.
• The Energy for Future Postdoctoral Fellowship Programme benefits postdoctoral researchers for 5 years who will carry out their work on technologies associated with the energy transition in collaboration with prestigious universities in Spain, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, the United States and Mexico.
• The Fulbright Commission Scholarships, a line of postgraduate scholarships in the United States in fields related to Iberdrola's activities in energy, technology and the environment.
• The scholarships awarded in collaboration with Fundación Carolina, a programme of postgraduate scholarships at universities in Spain to further the studies of university graduates from Latin America in areas related to energy and climate change.
• Grants for Training and Research in Art Restoration with the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum and the Prado Museum for young restorers in these internationally renowned art galleries.

In addition to the scholarships awarded today, Iberdrola maintains, among others, a line of funds for the Promotion of STEM among young people from socioeconomically vulnerable backgrounds; the ICAI Scholarship programme, aimed at financing university studies related to the energy sector for students with limited economic resources; and the Scholarships developed together with the Spanish Paralympic Committee, aimed at facilitating the professional training of athletes aimed at their integration in the labour market once their sports careers have ended.

Likewise, in a firm commitment by the Iberdrola group to promote young talent, 300 places have been offered in the two calls for its International Graduate Programme.

On the other hand, and as proof of Iberdrola's interest in training young people, in 2022 the company has taken on more than 1,600 young interns who have been able to take their first professional steps at a leading company in the energy sector and develop new skills and abilities that will serve to boost their future employment.

In this regard, more than 30,000 young people have joined Iberdrola in the last decade, some of whom did so thanks to a scholarship and are already occupying important positions in the company.

In addition to the young scholarship recipients, the event was attended by the Secretary of State for Education, José Manuel Bar Cendón; the Ambassador of Qatar, Abdulla bin Ibrahim Abdulrahman Sultan Al Hamar; the Ambassador of Australia, Sophia Ross McIntyre; the President of the Universidad Pontificia de Comillas, Enrique Sanz Giménez-Rico; as well as members of Iberdrola’s Board of Directors and senior management team.