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Iberdrola today brought together nearly 100 executives from international companies in Madrid for the presentation of its Global Supplier of the Year Awards 2023; a recognition that highlights its fundamental role in the creation of employment, wealth and energy transition.

Ignacio Galán, Chairman of Iberdrola, stated that "these awards are not only about economic efficiency or agility in operations, but also about the contribution to a greener, fairer and more sustainable economic model that generates opportunities for all. We are a company with values that wants companies that share our vision to be at its side".

The chairman encouraged all those present at the event, which he described as "allies for green industrialisation", to continue to grow alongside the company, generating tangible value around the world. "We are only at the beginning of a true revolution that must guarantee energy autonomy and decarbonisation", he said.

In this edition, the awards went to six companies that stand out for their commitment to innovation, equality, quality, sustainability and job creation, among others, which contribute to a decarbonised economy, based on their investments in renewables and increasingly intelligent distribution grids, large-scale storage projects and their commitment to innovative solutions for their customers.

Iberdrola follows a strategy of developing local suppliers for its strategic contracts, creating direct and indirect jobs and maintaining a strong industrial fabric in the geographies in which it operates. In total, the indirect jobs generated by its purchasing volume in 2022 were around 400,000 jobs. 

In 2022, Iberdrola made purchases from more than 20,000 suppliers related to equipment, materials, works, and services, for more than 17,000 million euros. The percentage of local purchases exceeded 87% last year. This figure shows the company as a driving force in the economies in which it operates. 

In 2023, in the first 10 months, this volume invoiced to suppliers in Spain already amounts to more than 10 million euros. According to the 2023-2025 outlook, the group's investments will exceed 47,000 million euros in three years. By 2030, Iberdrola's activities will support more than 500,000 jobs worldwide throughout the supply chain. Of this figure, more than 85,000 jobs will be in Spain. 

Iberdrola weaves stable alliances with its suppliers, with a vocation for the future. As proof of this commitment, every two years, the energy company conducts a Global Supplier Satisfaction Survey. In the last edition, held in 2022, it obtained 8.36 points out of 10. 

The Supplier of the Year Award went to the Brazilian company ITB Equipamientos Eléctricos. The company, which already received the Diversity and Equality Award in the 2018 edition, manufactures distribution transformers for Neoenergia and Avangrid, and has stood out for solving the problems of lack of local capacity. In the last four years (2020-2023) Iberdrola has made purchases from ITB for more than 90 million euros.

The award in the Economic Recovery and Job Creation category went to the Navantia - Windar alliance in recognition of its conversion of the FENE shipyard thanks to the collaboration agreement with Iberdrola and its creation of approximately 400 new jobs. In recent years, the joint venture has invoiced Iberdrola more than 400 million euros, with orders for around 160 monopiles for the different offshore wind farms that the energy company is developing in different parts of the world. One of its latest milestones has been the delivery of the last jacket for the Saint Brieuc wind farm. Both companies have been valued by Iberdrola in previous editions. In the case of Navantia, it received the award for Best Global Equipment Supplier in 2016, while Windar was recognised in the Employment Generation category at the 2019 Supplier Awards Spain. 

In the Energy Transition section, the winner was the Scottish company I&H Brown, a family-owned civil works company that has gone from working on coal to wind projects, batteries and grids. In the last four years it has received 39 million euros in orders from Iberdrola. 

In the Sustainability category, Iberdrola has recognised the work of the Portuguese company Conduril Engenharia, after successfully building the Alto Támega dam and obtaining a good ESG score, especially in the environmental area, in Iberdrola's evaluation model, designed to assess the positioning and performance of suppliers around the three fundamental axes of sustainability: environmental, social and governance. In the last four years (2020-2023) it has invoiced 120 million Iberdrola. 

The Diversity and Equality award went to the US company WECS Renewables for being a Woman-owned company, a governmental nomenclature that recognises that at least 51% of the company is managed, controlled and run by women, and for contributing to the objective of Iberdrola's subsidiary in the country, Supply Chain Diversity, a programme that increases purchases from suppliers that are made up of diverse groups. WECS is a supplier of spare parts and maintenance for Avangrid's wind power business and has invoiced Iberdrola 11 million in the last four years. 

In the Entrepreneurship section, the winner was the Brazilian company Voltbras, a start-up that stands out for its digital solution for the interoperability of charging points for electric vehicles. For Iberdrola Brazil, it has collaborated in the development of the NEO charging platform for customers and in the pioneering Green Corridor project (Natal to Salvador). Perseo, Iberdrola's start-up programme, has a minority stake in the company.

Sustainable strategy

Iberdrola was the first company worldwide to obtain ISO 20400 certification for Sustainable Procurement from AENOR, a procurement model aligned with the energy transition and committed to creating value. 

91.5% of purchases made in 2022 were made from suppliers subject to sustainable development policies and standards. All of Iberdrola's suppliers adhere to a Code of Ethics that includes principles of conduct and clauses regarding respect for human rights, diversity and equality, occupational health and safety, anti-fraud and corruption measures, and respect for the environment, among other issues.

Commitment to innovation

The company's R&D&I management model, which involves the participation of technology suppliers, universities and institutions, has made it a world leader and a benchmark in the area of Research, Development and Innovation (R&D&I). 

Its Supplier Innovation Programme focuses on facilitating access to financing mechanisms, promoting the joint creation of companies and encouraging innovative purchasing from SMEs.

During 2022, Iberdrola has allocated 363 million euros in R&D&I activities, a figure that represents a 7% increase compared to 2021.