Iberdrola chairman speaks at Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week
Iberdrola Chairman Ignacio Galán took part in Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week, the largest summit in the Middle East and North Africa on energy and sustainable development, attended by political, business and social leaders from around the world.
Galán took part in the panel discussion ‘Charging Ahead: Scaling Renewables for the Next Wave of Demand’, alongside the CEO of Masdar, with whom Iberdrola has an agreement that has already led to joint investments of £8 billion in offshore wind farms in the United Kingdom, and the CEOs of French energy company Engie and American company AES.
Electrification, networks and investments in Iberdrola's plan
Ignacio Galán discussed the progress of electrification in areas such as electric mobility, heat pumps, industry and, in particular, data centres and artificial intelligence, and committed to prioritising indigenous, competitive and sustainable technologies based on the natural resources of each region. For Galán, electrification is the best way to achieve more stable energy prices, more jobs and greater sustainability.
The chairman of Iberdrola, which this year celebrates its 125th anniversary as Europe's leading electricity company and one of the two largest in the world, also highlighted the role of electricity grids in ensuring security of supply and enabling all the benefits of electrification. According to its plan, Iberdrola plans to invest more than €58 billion by 2028, mainly in electricity transmission and distribution networks in the United Kingdom and the United States.
The panel was moderated by John Defterios, current WEF contributor and SEforAll advisor with 35 years of experience at CNN, and featured Mohammed Jameel Al Ramahi, CEO of Masdar, Catherine MacGregor, CEO of ENGIE, and Andres Gluski, CEO of AES Corporation.