Iberdrola

Iberdrola () is a Spanish multinational electric utility company based in Bilbao, Spain. Iberdrola has a workforce of around 34,000 employees serving around 31.67 million customers. Subsidiaries include Scottish Power (United Kingdom) and a significant part of Avangrid (United States), amongst others. the largest shareholder of the company is the Qatar Investment Authority, with BlackRock and Norges Bank also holding significant interests.
Iberdrola is the second biggest producer of wind power after Ørsted by revenue and market capitalisation, and the world's third electricity utility by market capitalisation.
History.
Early history.
Iberdrola was created on November 1, 1992, from the merger between Hidroeléctrica Española and Iberduero. Hidroeléctrica Española, also known as Hidrola, had started in 1907, while Iberduero arose from the merger between Hidroeléctrica Ibérica and Saltos del Duero in 1944. As of 2011 and with the integration of ScottishPower and Energy East, now renamed Iberdrola USA, the company has become a major multinational group.
The origin of Iberdrola lies in the Spanish industrialisation in the early 20th century. In 1840, American entrepreneurs founded the Hartford City Light Company, which lead to the incorporation of Energy East on the eastern seaboard of the US, which would much later become Iberdrola USA. Meanwhile, in Bilbao in 1901, Hidroeléctrica Ibérica was established by the engineer Juan de Urrutia. In 1907, Hidroeléctrica Ibérica shareholders created Hidroeléctrica Española to supply Madrid and Valencia. A decade later, Saltos del Duero was founded, opening the country's first hydroelectric facility in 1935, the Ricobayo power plant.
World War I forced the industry to seek new sources of energy and to install large distribution networks. Amid huge instability, US power companies underwent consolidation to decrease their financial uncertainty. However, the stock market crash of 1929 and the accompanying Great Depression brought many of these companies to the verge of ruin. In Spain, which had experienced a period of economic growth at the start of the 20th century, the industry suffered a severe setback in 1936 whose impact would be felt for the following two decades: the Spanish Civil War abruptly halted development, destroyed facilities and made maintaining the remaining equipment extremely difficult. In the 1940s, Spain experienced extreme difficulty in acquiring technology and materials due to international isolation and soaring prices.
Post-WWII.
In 1955, the South of Scotland Electricity Board (SSEB) came into being, paving the way for the creation of ScottishPower four decades later, in 1990. Two years after that, Hidroeléctrica Española and Iberduero merged to form Iberdrola. In the latter part of the 20th century, Iberdrola began expanding into Latin America, mainly Mexico and Brazil.
With ScottishPower and Iberdrola formed in Europe, in 1998 Energy East Corporation came into being in the US following New York State Electric &amp; Gas's acquisition of Central Maine Power, Southern Connecticut Gas Company, Connecticut Natural Gas Company, Berkshire Gas Company and RGS Energy Group (the parent of Rochester Gas &amp; Electric). Following the arrival of Jose Ignacio Sanchez Galan in 2001 Iberdrola began focusing on renewable energy. In 2007, the company continued its international expansion, increasing its presence in the UK and the US via the integration of ScottishPower and Energy East. Iberdrola has faced several merger attempts and made additional acquisitions:
Lines of business.
Deregulated business.
Iberdrola's liberalised business combines power generation and gas and electricity supply. The company had assets with combined installed capacity of 46.471 MW at the end of 2015. Iberdrola manages its production assets, comprising hydroelectric, combined-cycle gas, nuclear and co-generation plants located in 40 countries, mainly in Europe, North America and Latin America. Output in Spain: 58,076 GWh in 2013, of which 14,795 GWh were produced at hydroelectric plants. As a result, 79% of Iberdrola's production in Spain was emission free.
Regulated business.
Iberdrola provides service to more than 32.26 million people. In Spain has over 10.91 million supply points and a total distributed energy of 92,676 GWh. The TIEPI indicator for supply quality has been situated at a value of 61.8 minutes (2015). In the United Kingdom, the affiliate for the ScottishPower Group has over 3.51 million distribution clients. The volume of energy distributed has been 36.213 GWh. In the United States, Avangrid has 2.2 million power supply points of electricity and 0.99 million of gas. The volume of energy distributed has been 31.337 GWh. In Brazil, Iberdrola has distributed a total of 29.941 GWh in 2015. The number of customers has been 13.1 million.
Renewable energy business.
In Q1 2021, Iberdrola reported having operating installed capacity of 55,396 MW producing a total of 42,951 GWh of electricity in the year. Its clean energy capacity increased by 13.3% to 79%.
Main subsidiaries.
ScottishPower.
The UK's 4th largest energy provider, ScottishPower has 5.79 million customers across the country and 7,380 employees. It has generation assets in hydro, coal, combined cycle gas and cogeneration, as well as a distribution network covering 65,000 km of underground cables and 47,000 km of overhead lines. ScottishPower is involved in smart grid projects in Glasgow and Liverpool, and provides charging points as a member of the Glasgow consortium which is developing an electric vehicles project. The installed capacity in the United Kingdom has reached 6,342 MW and production has been 19,936 GWh in 2013.
Iberdrola USA.
Iberdrola USA, which became part of the group in September 2008, distributes electricity and gas to 2.44 million customers in the states of Maine and New York. It has offices located in its principal distribution centres in the two states. In New York, the business is shared by two operating subsidiaries – New York State Electric &amp; Gas (NYSEG) and Rochester Gas and Electric (RG&amp;E) – both headquartered in Rochester. In Maine, Central Maine Power (CMP) has headquarters in Augusta. NYSEG serves 878,000 electricity customers and 261,000 natural gas customers across more than 40% of upstate New York, whereas RG&amp;E serves 367,000 electricity customers and 303,000 natural gas customers in nine counties around the city of Rochester. CMP is the largest energy supplier in Maine, serving over 600,000 customers.
Iberdrola USA promotes important infrastructure projects in both Maine and New York. In Maine, CMP began construction in September 2010 of the Maine Power Reliability Program (MPRP), a $1.4 billion upgrade of the state's transmission network which will also improve grid connections to Canada. It also began the roll-out of a smart meter installation plan for 625,000 customers in Maine. In New York, important infrastructure projects have been undertaken at Ithaca and Corning Valley.
In 2015 Iberdrola USA merged with UIL Holdings (parent of Connecticut's United Illuminating and other companies) to become Iberdrola-controlled Avangrid.
Iberdrola Ingeniería.
With projects in more than 30 countries throughout Europe, Asia, Africa and North and South America, Iberdrola Ingeniería and Construcción's services include engineering, supply, construction and commissioning, turnkey projects and operational support. In the area of R&amp;D, is developing the Iter project.
Iberdrola Inmobiliaria.
Iberdrola Inmobiliaria offers a range a real estate products, with a focus on residential property, holiday homes, offices, factory premises and shopping centres.
Assets in Spain.
Iberdrola also owns hydroelectric plants, especially in the Duero river basin (provided by Iberduero) and the Tajo and Segura river basins, etc. (provided by Hidroeléctrica Española).
Construction is finished on the 848 MW La Muela plant (at Cortes de Pallás, Valencia) and on the 175 MW San Esteban II plan, on the Sil river. The San Pedro II project has started its construction.
See also: Saltos del Duero.
Nuclear plants.
Iberdrola operates the following five nuclear plants individually or jointly with other companies: 
Thermal plants.
Iberdrola also owns some conventional thermal plants, mostly coal-fired, although it can also use fuel oil and gas oil. Two of these plants are:
Renewable energy.
Headquartered in Valencia (Paseo de la Alameda), the Iberdrola Renovables subsidiary had been listed on the stock exchange from December 2007 until July 2011, when Iberdrola decided to re-acquire the minority shares and integrate it into the parent company.
In Q1 2021, Iberdrola reported having operating installed capacity of 55,396 MW producing a total of 42,951 GWh of electricity in the year. Its clean energy capacity increased by 13.3% to 79%.
Iberdola reported to have increased its investments in renewables with 29% and has 8,700 MW of renewable energy under construction. It plans to build 78,000 MW until 2025.
Major assets
Iberdrola's Renewable Energy Operations Centres (CORE for its initials in Spanish) in Toledo, Portland and Glasgow control all Iberdrola's renewables facilities and its related substations worldwide. Iberdrola's first CORE was set up in Toledo in 2003, with the other two coming on stream since.
With initial installed capacity of 322 MW, it is currently being enlarged to 539 MW. The complex is situated south of Glasgow and covers an area of 55 square kilometres, the same as that occupied by Glasgow itself.
The El Andévalo wind farm, which was commissioned in 2010, is the largest wind power facility in Spain and continental Europe. It has installed capacity of 292 MW and is located between the towns of El Almendro, Alosno, San Silvestre and Puebla de Guzmán in the south of Huelva province. To transfer the power generated by these wind farms and connect them to the transmission grid, Iberdrola has built a new 120-kilometre line between Spain and Portugal, which means this complex occupies a key strategic position in the power interconnections between the two countries.
The Peñascal wind farm is the largest facility operated by the company worldwide, with installed capacity of 404 MW. Located in Kenedy County, Texas, its innovative features include a radar that detects the arrival of large flocks of migratory birds and shuts down the turbines if visibility conditions represent a danger.
The 500-megawatt Núñez de Balboa photovoltaic facility entered its testing phase in January 2020.