Iberdrola to invest an additional 500 million euros in the digitalisation of electricity grids in Spain

Iberdrola takes another step forward in the digitalisation and innovation of electricity grids in Spain. The company has committed to investing an additional 500 million euros by 2024 to accelerate the energy transition process by boosting electricity infrastructures. 

Iberdrola takes another step forward in the digitalisation and innovation of electricity grids in Spain. The company has committed to investing an additional 500 million euros by 2024 to accelerate the energy transition process by boosting electricity infrastructures. 

A third of this investment comes from European funds regulated through Royal Decree 1125/2021, which seeks to promote investment in innovative grid digitalisation projects, as well as in publicly available electric vehicle charging infrastructures. 

With this, the company commits to investing 2.6 billion euros to ensure an energy system with a robust, flexible and resilient model.

These projects will enable the creation of more than 6,000 jobs throughout the industrial value chain and will generate significant economic, environmental and social returns for citizens, SMEs and administrations. As a result of technological innovation and digitalisation in general, these jobs will require higher technical and professional qualifications, which will also give Spanish industry the opportunity to be even more competitive with respect to other international competitors.

These investments will play an important role in the energy transition, as they will contribute 
significantly to meeting the decarbonisation targets and complement the investments already planned for the period 2021-2023 for the development of digitalisation and the reinforcement of the connection of electric vehicle charging infrastructures.

A project committed to the environment

i-DE's commitment to digitalisation is in line with the measures proposed to reduce the carbon footprint, allowing for greater flexibility in generation and demand on the grid. 

The project promotes two objectives: on the one hand, the grid will be more flexible and secure, which will allow a greater penetration of large-scale renewable generation and a greater number of distributed generation resources (self-consumption); and, on the other hand, it will promote the electrification of the transport sector. 

In addition, it will contribute to the reduction of the carbon footprint through key vectors in the transition such as the electrification of ports or the electrification of heat -heat pumps-.

They represent an opportunity for a more efficient use of energy, both for the customer, who will be able to manage their consumption in a sustainable way, and for the distributor, increasing their control and facilitating a greater integration of renewables into the energy mix.

i-DE, a global benchmark in smart grids

In Spain, i-DE manages more than 260,000 km of power lines. It also has more than 97,000 transformation centres in service and more than 1,000 substations to offer the best service to its more than 11 million customers. 

Iberdrola's distribution company will continue to promote its electricity grid infrastructures in Spain, which are key to ensuring the transition to a carbon-free economy.

The transformation of the grids into a robust, flexible and intelligent infrastructure makes it possible to respond to the challenges of the electrification of the electricity system, with greater integration of renewables, the development of sustainable mobility, smart cities and decentralised consumption (self-consumption) and a consumer with greater decision-making capacity and connectivity.

Given its commitment to smart grids, last September Iberdrola inaugurated the new Global Smart Grids Innovation Hub, the company's pioneering grid innovation centre, which aims to become a benchmark in innovation applied to grids and will act as a driving platform for R&D&I and local and international talent. 

It is a centre in which 50 companies, technology centres and universities are already working on 120 projects worth 110 million euros. This public-private collaboration space -with more than 1,000 m2 and located in Iberdrola's network headquarters in Larraskitu- was created with the aim of accelerating innovation and R&D&I in the real nervous system of decarbonisation: smart grids. A hub that combines cutting-edge technology, research, training and entrepreneurship, it is equipped with the latest developments in digitalisation, artificial intelligence and advanced data analytics, among many other fields.