Iberdrola Opens Dedicated Office in London, UK

The Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Edward Davey MP, has officially opened the new London offices of Iberdrola and ScottishPower in an inauguration ceremony presided over by the Chairman and CEO of Iberdrola and Chairman of ScottishPower, Ignacio Galan.

At the launch, Galan told guests that the UK was central to the group’s plans: “We are projecting investments that will exceed £10 billion in the UK in the coming years. Our sector is one that can help with economic recovery and our plans will create jobs and invest in the country’s energy future”.

He also praised the UK for leading the way in liberalising their energy sector and said “decisions now being made will affect our energy sector for many years to come.” He said this represented major challenges “but also an opportunity for ScottishPower as an investor, employer and creator of economic value for the UK.”

Through the London office, the Group’s first corporate office outside Spain, Iberdrola seeks closer proximity with the international financial community, while providing a focal point for its major development projects in offshore wind and new nuclear build in the UK. It also symbolizes Iberdrola growing multicultural nature, with 60% of its workforce non-Spanish.

Opening the London Office, the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Edward Davey MP, said:

‘It’s encouraging to see big international companies such as Iberdrola increasing their presence and interest in the UK. With our forthcoming reforms of the electricity market, I want the UK to become a prime destination for energy business. Iberdrola’s low carbon energy plans promise to benefit our economy, our energy security and the planet.’

In his speech focusing on jobs and investment, Galan highlighted a series of initiatives that the group is making throughout the UK.

These include:

•  300 new engineering and technical jobs as part of a £5bn investment the Group is making to upgrade the electricity network in central and southern Scotland which in total will create up to 1,500 jobs in the next 8 years;
• £1.3bn investment on a 260 mile long high-voltage undersea cable linking South West of Scotland to North Wales and to be operational by 2016;
• Recent announcements by ScottishPower Renewables and its partner DONG Energy relating to the 389MW West of Duddon Sands offshore wind farm in the Irish Sea, covering port facilities in Belfast and a £115 million contract for the transportation and installation of 108 turbine foundations;
• Major investments in wind projects including £1.7 on West of Duddon Sands;
• East Anglia offshore windfarm in partnership with Vattenfall. Once completed it will generate up to 7,200MW of electricity, enough for over 5 million homes;
• Plans for new nuclear for NuGen with GDF Suez at Moorside in Cumbria will see the potential for thousands of new jobs.

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Offshore WIND staff, May 10, 2012; Image: iberdrola