Iberdrola strengthens its presence in the United Kingdom with a strong investment

The British government announced on Monday that Iberdrola will invest 7 billion pounds (8.817 billion dollars) in the UK, boosting the Spanish energy company's presence in the country. 

With this new injection, Iberdrola will raise to 30,000 million pounds (37,877 million dollars) its investments in the United Kingdom in the last fifteen years, confirmed in a statement the Spanish business group dedicated to the production, distribution and marketing of energy. 

"Over the past 15 years, Iberdrola, the largest electricity company in Europe and one of the two largest in the world, has invested close to 30 billion pounds in the UK electricity grid and in renewable generation capacity," said Ignacio Galán, executive chairman of the Spanish company, as quoted in the statement. 

The British government had announced earlier that this new injection by Iberdrola will bring the Spanish company's investments for the period 2004-2028 to 12 billion pounds. 

"With more than 2 billion pounds (2.519 billion dollars) already invested in the UK as part of its previously announced programme of 6.7 billion pounds (8.419 billion dollars) for the years 2023-25, this new investment brings Iberdrola's investment for 2024-28 to 12 billion pounds (15.115 billion dollars)," the UK government's text explains. 

"Around two-thirds of Iberdrola's 2024-28 investment will be in electricity transmission and distribution networks," the text adds. 

"Also to projects such as the ground-breaking 2.7 billion pound (3.4 billion dollars) Eastern Green Link 1 (EGL1), a submarine transmission cable, which received regulatory approval this month," the statement explains. 

Other UK investments 

The UK government's announcement on Iberdrola was included in a statement in which Rishi Sunak's government reported a total of 29.5 billion pounds (37.15 billion dollars) of new private investment by international companies in the UK. 

The British government made this announcement at the start of the second edition of a summit in London that brings together multinationals and investors. 

Iberdrola's investment is one of the largest private investments announced by the British government on Monday, along with the 10 billion pounds (12.6 billion dollars) from the Australian fund IFM Investors. 

For the UK government, "these investments by private companies include projects in technology, life sciences, infrastructure, housing and renewable energy, creating thousands of new jobs and boosting growth across the country". 

"Attracting international investment is at the heart of my economic growth plan," Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was quoted as saying. 

A week after announcing a tax cut for individuals and companies, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said in his opening speech at the 2023 Global Investment Summit that his country's tax policy is one of the UK's main "competitive advantages". 

Iberdrola, in its statement, reported that Ignacio Galán had met with Rishi Sunak and Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt. 

"Backed by clear regulatory and policy frameworks, we are more committed than ever to accelerating our investment in the UK's electricity grid and renewable energy generation," Galán said in the Spanish group's statement.