Iberdrola España receives €50M in financing from the EIB to rebuild and adapt the electricity grid affected by the cold drop in Valencia to climate change
- The financing will support investments by il·lumina, Iberdrola España's project to rebuild and modernise the electricity distribution grid affected by the cold drop
- The project will roll out resilience and digitalisation measures that will benefit more than 650,000 customers and increase the security of the electricity supply
- The EIB financing is provided out of its own capital and from the Autonomous Community Resilience Fund (FRA in Spanish) launched by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Business
High voltage works by Iberdrola España in Carlet (Valencia) following the DANA
The European Investment Bank (EIB) has signed two €25M loans with Iberdrola España to finance the reconstruction, redesign, climate change adaptation and digitalisation work being carried out by the company on the electricity distribution grid damaged by the cold drop last October in Valencia.
These investments are part of Iberdrola España's il·lumina project, launched to build the electricity distribution grid of the future. Among other measures, the project will rebuild damaged infrastructure, increase facility automation, incorporate new smart transformers to improve supply quality, bury overhead power lines and raise and compact transformer substations.
These intervention are expected to benefit more than 650,000 customers, according to the electricity company, increasing the security of energy supply in a context of extreme weather events and the growing integration of electricity generated with renewable energy sources.
The project reinforces the EIB's role as a Climate Bank, one of the eight strategic priorities of the EIB Group set out in its strategic roadmap for 2024–2027. The operation is also part of the EIB's action plan in support of REPowerEU, the programme aimed at increasing security and accelerating the energy transition by reducing the European Union's dependence on fossil fuel imports.
The financing includes €25M from the EIB's own resources and another €25M from the Autonomous Resilience Fund (FRA) created to facilitate access to loans under the Next Generation EU and Spain's Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan. The FRA aims to encourage investment and develop projects in eight priority areas: social and affordable housing and urban regeneration; sustainable transport; industrial competitiveness and small and medium-sized enterprises; research, development and innovation; sustainable tourism; the care economy; water and waste management; and the energy transition. The FRA is promoted by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Business and has the EIB Group as a strategic partner for its management.
Il·lumina, Iberdrola España's commitment to Valencia
This financing is part of Iberdrola España's strategy to drive forward a more robust electricity grid that is better prepared for extreme weather events, while strengthening its commitment to the energy transition and green financing. With il·lumina, Iberdrola España is not only responding to the damage suffered, it is also anticipating the future by investing in a safer, more efficient electricity infrastructure that is aligned with European climate targets.
The il·lumina project involves the renovation of substations, transformer stations and the medium and low voltage grid to redesign the electricity grid affected by the cold drop. The company has put together a team of 35 people who are working exclusively on developing the construction plan for the electricity grid of the future, coordinating the work of approximately 1,000 operators, most of whom are locally based.
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