Spanish multinational electric utility company Iberdrola has partnered with Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), the manager of Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, to invest in 1,265MW of new renewables capacity in Spain, with solar plants making up 80% of the portfolio.
Of the solar and wind portfolio, 137MW is operational in the regions of Castilla-La Mancha and Aragón. The rest of the projects are in development in Andalucía (358MW), Extremadura (343MW), Aragón (175MW), Castilla y León (102MW), Madrid (55MW), Murcia (50MW) and Castilla-La Mancha (45MW). There are seven solar plants and five onshore wind projects in total.
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According to NBIM, nine projects are now under development, expected to be completed between 2023-2025. Norges Bank Investment Management will take ownership of these projects when they become operational.
NBIM is also a 3% shareholder in Iberdrola. According to the Spanish group, the new partnership builds on both parties’ longstanding relationship and is its first direct investment in renewables assets in Spain, aiming to accelerate decarbonisation in the country.
The terms of the agreement value the assets in the portfolio at about €1.2 billion (US$1.3 billion).
Under the partnership, Iberdrola will have a majority stake of 51% in the assets. Iberdrola will also control and manage the assets, providing operations and maintenance services, as well as other corporate services. NBIM will pay €600 million for its 49% interest in the portfolio. No external debt financing will be involved in the transaction.
Iberdrola has almost 19,500MW of renewable energy capacity installed in Spain and will build 4,100MW more by 2025. In the future, Iberdrola said that both parties might extend their partnership to other countries.
Over the past few years, Iberdrola has invested in renewables in various markets. It is committed to investing between €2-3 billion in Australia in the “coming years”. The utility, which currently has a 2GW portfolio of development projects and an installed capacity of 1,062MW of solar, wind and battery storage in Australia, aims to reach 4GW of installed renewables capacity in the country.
In July 2022, Iberdrola and British multinational oil and gas company bp reached an agreement to accelerate the deployment of EV charging infrastructure and the production of green hydrogen in Spain and Portugal.
