The Diplomat
Iberdrola, through its British subsidiary ScottishPower, has agreed to purchase seventeen photovoltaic solar energy projects in the United Kingdom, making it the largest investor in solar energy in that country, increasing its market share from 2% to 9%, reports Europa Press.
The projects have a combined capacity of more than 800 megawatts (MW) and their development will involve an investment of approximately 500 million pounds (about 600 million euros), the company said.
Specifically, the contracts have been closed, separately, with the companies Elgin Energy, owner of 12 projects, and Lightsource BP, which controlled the rest. Both companies are experienced developers with extensive experience in the development of renewable energy projects.
The plants, spread across central England, south Wales and northern Scotland, are at an advanced stage of development and will be operational by 2025. They are expected to supply enough energy to cover the annual needs of around 220,000 homes.
The company chaired by Ignacio Sánchez Galán stressed that its investment commitment in the country, where ScottishPower is the only integrated 100% green utility, will contribute to achieving the carbon neutrality targets set by the governments of Scotland by 2045 and Great Britain by 2050.
Moreover, the portfolio acquired in these two new transactions far exceeds the current capacity and projects under development of most listed solar power companies in Spain, where the market is highly fragmented, the company said.
As of September last year, the group had almost three gigawatts (GW) of installed PV capacity worldwide, up 89% from 2019. Of this capacity, 2,028 MW are in Spain, 642 MW in Mexico, 191 MW in the United States, 4 MW in the United Kingdom and 31 MW in other countries.
In addition, the energy company has 31 GW of solar projects under development in Spain, the United States, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Portugal and Italy. Iberdrola launched an investment plan for the period 2020-2025 that plans to double the current capacity in this technology to six GW by the end of 2022, and to close 2025 with 14 GW of installed solar capacity.
With these two contracts, the group has closed 30 corporate operations since the beginning of 2020, 17 of which have been acquisitions that have allowed the company to enter new markets such as Sweden, Ireland, Poland, Japan and Australia.
