Spanish multinational energy company Iberdrola has secured €100 million ($121.2 million) in financing from the European Investment Bank (EIB) to fund its business innovation strategy.
The utility will leverage the loan to implement its research, development and innovation (RDI) strategy between 2021 and 2023.
Iberdrola will take advantage of the loan to align its operations with key areas of energy sector transformation namely decarbonization and electrification.
Iberdrola’s RDI strategy contributes to the development of the Strategic Energy Technology Plan (SET Plan) and meets the new EU clean energy targets. In addition to increasing the company’s competitiveness, maximizing the use of technology in value-adding activities, improving processes and asset productivity, and making its activities more efficient, the EIB support will contribute to the fight against climate change through technologies that will help provide more sustainable, competitive and efficient solutions.
Research activities will focus on renewable energy, green hydrogen production and the development of floating wind farms and solar plants, as well as the integration of clean energy into the energy network through pumped-storage hydroelectric power stations and batteries.
In addition to electric mobility, Iberdrola will develop new solutions for its customers, promoting more efficient energy use and more tailored services by enhancing digitalization, automation and cybersecurity.
EIB vice-president Ricardo Mourinho Félix, who is responsible for the Bank’s operations in Spain and Portugal, said: “The EIB is firmly committed to supporting investments that will increase the European economy’s competitiveness and strategic autonomy by promoting RDI investment projects, especially those related to the energy sector, within the scope of the Bank’s climate action activities. This agreement once again highlights the EIB’s key role in the European economy as a major financier of clean energy and climate action investments.”
Iberdrola CEO Ignacio Galà¡n, added: “RDI is in our company’s DNA, and we continue to strive to be more innovative, more efficient and more customer-oriented. We need to step up our ambition to integrate the green revolution and innovation as key elements of the economic recovery. We have demonstrated this over the past two decades through our pioneering activities, and with agreements such as the one signed today with the EIB we will strengthen our research and innovation strategy to stay ahead of the curve, building solutions today to respond to the challenges of tomorrow.”
According to the European Commission report, The 2020 Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard, Iberdrola has become the European Union’s top private utility in terms of RDI investment, having earmarked €280 million ($339.4 million) for it in 2019. The company aims to bring this figure to €400 million ($484.9 million) by 2025. Over the last decade, its RDI investments have increased to €2 billion ($2.4 billion).
