- This result is thanks to the company's investments in the modernisation, digitalisation and automation of the networks.
- During the twelve months of 2021, the quality indicator was 16% better than in the same period of 2020.
i-DE, Iberdrola's distribution company in Spain, has improved the quality of the electricity supply it offers its customers by 16% at the end of 2021. The index that measures this service - Interruption Time Equivalent to Installed Power (TIEPI) - is below 45 minutes. As a result, the company has achieved the best year-end value in its history.
These figures were obtained despite the storms and storms that affected the peninsula last year, such as the heavy flooding caused by rising rivers and snowfall in the Basque Country, Navarre and the north of Castile and Leon, or the Filomena squall, an unprecedented snowstorm that affected a total of 270,000 customers throughout the peninsula. In the latter scenario, i-DE managed to restore service to 70% of affected customers in less than 30 minutes, thanks to the degree of automation of the network and the automatic supply restoration developments.
Thanks to the investments made by i-DE in new electricity infrastructure, the maintenance and renewal of existing infrastructure, as well as its ambitious plan to digitalise its electricity grids, the company has been able to maintain an above-average level of quality. In fact, the company has invested a total of 1.6 billion euros in Spain over the last three years, maintaining and even increasing its investment commitments in the country despite the limitations and challenges posed by the pandemic.
In recent years, Iberdrola has undertaken an ambitious plan to digitalise its networks, transforming around 12 million meters and the infrastructure that supports them into smart meters, incorporating remote management, supervision and automation capabilities. All this has been possible thanks to the efforts and commitment of more than 3,400 i-DE professionals, of whom approximately 30% work directly in the field, in addition to the support offered by the more than 4,000 people the company employs indirectly in Spain.
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 veritable 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.
