Iberdrola has formed a strategic alliance with insurance company Mapfre that will initially invest in 230MW of clean energy projects in Spain, including 130MW of solar PV.
The joint venture will add more assets over time, as well as new renewable plants from Iberdrola’s pipeline, targeting a portfolio of up to 1GW. Mapfre is the majority shareholder in the vehicle with an 80% stake, while Iberdrola owns the remaining 20%.
The first 130MW of PV projects are being developed in Castilla-La Mancha, central Spain, and are expected to be commissioned in the third quarter of 2022.
Iberdrola chairman Ignacio Galán said the alliance “illustrates the need to work together, with commitment and action, in order to lead the transition towards a low-carbon economy, drive re-industrialisation and create jobs in our country”.
As part of efforts to become carbon neutral by 2030, Iberdrola recently launched a €75 billion (US$88.9 billion) investment package that will enable it to reach 60GW of renewables in 2025, by which time its solar PV capacity will more than double to 16GW.
In Spain, where the utility has a 12.9GW project pipeline and is currently building 1.8GW of PV and wind, it will invest €14.3 billion by 2025, most of which is earmarked for renewables development and a smart grid plan.
Alongside growth efforts in its home market, Iberdrola recently expanded its operations in the US with the US$8.3 billion acquisition PNM Resources, an owner of utilities in New Mexico and Texas that has 2.8GW of generation capacity.
Solar PV to power carbon-neutral data centres in Spain and Portugal
A new collaboration between real estate firm Merlin Properties and tech infrastructure company Edged Energy will build a network of four renewables-powered data centres across Spain and Portugal.
The carbon-neutral data centres in Madrid, Bilbao, Barcelona and Lisbon will support up to a total of 20MW of load each and have hours battery energy storage to “allow for 24/7 renewable energy use”, the companies said.
The power that each facility uses will come from local renewable energy sources, primarily Merlin’s solar PV installations.
Each of the initial four data centres will consume zero water for cooling and use less energy for cooling and overhead systems than average European data centres.
Jakob Carnemark, founder of Endeavor, the renewable technologies company that owns Edged Energy, said Spain and Portugal are key growth areas for the firm as it builds its global carbon- and water-neutral platform for data centre edge infrastructure.
“The Iberian Peninsula is fast becoming one of the most strategically connected places in the world with excellent fiber networks and an abundance of solar and wind energy resources,” he said.