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Iberdrola Clientes, Iberdrola Group’s company in Spain, has provided the Ministry of the Interior with almost a million masks^[1], 20,000 pairs of protective goggles and 5,390 medical gowns, which will be distributed among their units during the coming days. The company has proceeded in compliance with ministry guidelines.

This new consignment is part of a global initiative run by the Iberdrola Group during the coronavirus health crisis, which includes procurement of essential medical equipment worth €30 million, weighing a total of 80 tons, harnessing its global access to supplies to benefit the government.

The delivery of medical supplies, which took place on the Iberdrola Campus in San Agustín de Guadalix (Madrid), was witnessed by senior staff from Iberdrola Clientes, who handed the goods to the director of the National Centre for Infrastructure Protection and Cybersecurity of the Ministry, Fernando Sánchez; the commander of the Guardia Civil, Ana María Muñoz Rodríguez, and National Police Inspector, Leandro Gobierno López.

Iberdrola group chairman Ignacio Galán sent a message of support and gratitude to the State security forces and bodies: “Just as they have always done, the National Police Force and the Civil Guard have made heroic efforts during this crisis, toiling on the front line to serve citizens and particularly healthcare professionals”.

The medical supplies and preventive equipment were purchased in coordination with the authorities as part of Iberdrola’s global response to the COVID-19 outbreak, which includes employees, suppliers and the general public.

Since the threat of the virus was detected, the Iberdrola group in Spain has launched more than 150 health and safety measures to protect the population, safeguard supplies and support essential facilities such as hospitals and health centres. With increased safety in place for employees in the field and 95% of office staff working from home, the company has also offered its customers payment facilities and free services for its vulnerable people.

More investment and more jobs for a green recovery

Once we have overcome this health crisis, Iberdrola is certain that the road to recovery must lie in the transition toward a decarbonised economy.

In this regard, group chairman Ignacio Galán said that “the road to recovery must be a green road”. We have clear plans for this, both in Europe, with the European Green Deal, and in Spain, with the PNIEC (Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan). The measures adopted in recent weeks show that Iberdrola is fully committed to this task”.

To achieve this, the company expects to speed up investment to a record 10bn euros in 2020 and will hire 5,000 new workers this year, who will join the 3,500 recruits who joined in 2019.

Likewise, Iberdrola is prioritising the security of the supply chain. To do so, it has placed advance orders of up to 4bn euros from more than 10,000 suppliers, double the amount in 2019. Specifically, and according to the company's data, March was the busiest month in this regard, with orders worth almost 2.9 billion euros placed, almost 75% of the total for the quarter. At the same time, 24% of the total amount was allocated to suppliers based in Spain (more than 940 million euros). This volume of resources will mobilise projects, industrial activity throughout the value chain and innovation in areas such as renewable energy, smart grids and large-scale storage systems.

In short, Iberdrola’s response to the COVID-19 crisis is “entirely consistent” with the model that it has been applying for decades, geared to sustainable value creation for shareholders, employees and society in general.

^{[1] 50,000 FFP3, 48,530 FFP2 respiratory masks and 900,000 surgical masks.}