Iberdrola believes that the broad lines of Spanish energy policy will not change substantially after the early general elections on July 23. This was stated this Wednesday in a meeting with journalists by the president of the largest Spanish electricity company, Ignacio Sánchez Galán, who considers that the European guideline that marks the decarbonization plan fit for 55 —which, he says, none of the political parties in contention questions— is the one that will set the limits for whoever emerges victorious at the polls.
The head of Iberdrola, one of the companies most critical of the regulatory changes applied by the Government of Pedro Sánchez in the legislature that is now ending, acknowledges the differences in the energy priorities of the different parties —the left, much more prone to renewable; the right, much more favorable to the nuclear one—, but he considers that the community directive will be a kind of corset against any attempt to get out of the line marked by Brussels and agreed by the Executives of the Twenty-seven.
In full political turmoil after the result of the regional and municipal elections, Sánchez Galán believes that the withdrawal of the energy tax will not be a priority for the PP candidate, Alberto Núñez-Feijóo, if he reaches La Moncloa either. And he also denies that the foreseeable change of government in several key regions for the development of renewables in Spain —above all, Aragon and Extremadura— are going to call into question the processing of projects underway.
Electrical reform and PNM
Although stressing the need for a reform of the European electricity market, Sánchez Galán —who has gone to Mérida (Badajoz) for an awards ceremony— considers that, if successful, the package of changes proposed by the Spanish authorities would mean a return to the current scheme nearly four decades ago, in the mid-1980s.
On the other side of the Atlantic, a substantial part of Iberdrola’s future business in the US depends on whether or not the New Mexico regulator approves the purchase of PNM Resources, currently paralyzed. Despite being convinced that he will end up receiving the go-ahead from the authorities, Iberdrola’s chief executive has refused to make a deadline explicit. His expectation, yes, is that this green light arrives in the first half of next year.
In Mexico, Sánchez Galán is satisfied with the result of the negotiation, dog-faced and for a year and a half, with the Government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador and which ended in early April with an 80% sale agreement of its electricity generation business in combined cycles in exchange for 6,000 million dollars (5,620 million euros at current exchange rates). That money, although it represents a knock on his investment capacity, is already contemplated in the current strategic plan. Iberdrola’s intention in the North American country, he has said, is to bet on renewables.
On a global level, investment in green energy —the watchword of the Spanish electricity company for years— will deepen joint venture agreements with other partners, such as the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund (Norges Bank), which will expand in the coming weeks, and with the Qatari (Qatar Investment Authority), which is also its largest shareholder with 8.7% of the capital.
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