Mario Ruiz-Tagle, CEO of Iberdrola Spain, visits the President of the Region of Murcia, López Miras

• Iberdrola's activity in the Community generates a socio-economic impact of more than €200 million

Institutional visit of Mario Ruiz-Tagle, CEO of Iberdrola Spain, to the President of the Region of Murcia, Fernando López Miras.

The CEO of Iberdrola Spain, Mario Ruiz-Tagle, this morning visited the President of the Region of Murcia, Fernando López Miras, to whom he reaffirmed the company's commitment to the Community, where the company's activity generates a socio-economic impact of more than 200 million euros.

In this regard, Iberdrola continues to act as one of the driving forces of the economy in the Region, where over the last few years it has made purchases and contracts with more than 150 Murcian suppliers every year for a value of close to €60 million and investing around €70 million a year.

Ruiz-Tagle informed López Miras that the company wants to continue to play an active role in the transformation of the energy model in the Region and to this end continues to reinforce its strategy of electrification of the economy on a daily basis, based on the promotion of renewable projects, the development of smarter distribution networks and the promotion of new energy models such as self-consumptionExternal link, opens in new window.  and sustainable mobilityExternal link, opens in new window. .

The CEO of Iberdrola España also stressed to the President of Murcia the need to have a regulation that encourages investment in renewable energies which, as they are indigenious, will help to reduce dependence on third parties for energy supply.

In the Region of Murcia, Iberdrola manages more than 28,000 kilometres of low and medium voltage lines and approximately 1,500 km of high and very high voltage lines through i-DE, its distribution company. It also has 9,600 transformation centres in service and 69 substations. In recent years, the company has undertaken an ambitious plan to digitalise its electricity grids in the region, where it has converted its more than 900,000 meters and the infrastructure that supports them into smart meters, incorporating remote management, supervision and automation capabilities.

Sustainable projects

Iberdrola continues to consolidate its investment efforts in the region in new sustainable projects that allow it to continue the fight against climate change and improve sustainability.

The company continues to make progress on the long-term renewable energy purchase and sale agreement (PPA) with SABIC under which Iberdrola will build and operate one of the largest solar photovoltaic projects for on-site self-consumption in Europe, a 100 megawatt (MW) facility to be located on the grounds of SABIC's industrial plant, which has already obtained the corresponding Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).

In the area of sustainable mobility, Iberdrola continues with the installation and commissioning of charging points for electric vehicles in the region, all of them powered by 100 % green energy from renewable generation sources. In addition, it has recently started up in Sangonera la Seca, together with the Murcian company Disfrimur, public chargers adapted for electric trucks, which is the first electrification project in the Mediterranean corridor for road freight transport, which will accelerate the decarbonisation of a sector that is strategic for the regional economy.

The company continues to work with Murcian administrations, companies and industrial sectors to provide them with solutions adapted to their characteristics, such as heat pumps (e.g., aerothermal energy), or green hydrogen, in order to achieve a progressive decarbonisation of the economy.

With regard to this last new energy vector, Iberdrola is also promoting the creation of a green hydrogen corridor in the Mediterranean area that will enable the production and supply of this renewable energy source to heavy transport and thus move towards increasingly sustainable and emission-free mobility.