Iberdrola, the Company Enemy of Renewable Energy Iberdrola, the Company Enemy of Renewable Energy
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May 2013 Iberdrola, The Company Enemy of Renewable Energy Iberdrola, The Company Enemy of Renewable Energy Contenido Written by: Greenpeace España Introduction Introduction 3 1 Iberdrola’s business: a dirty energy company 4 Front cover image 2 Iberdrola’s profits 8 © Greenpeace 3 Iberdrola’s message: from green energy to hounding Images renewables © Greenpeace 4 Iberdrola and politicians: revolving doors 12 5 Iberdrola’s power: customised legislation 22 Conclusions 23 The fight against climate change demands a change in the This change in policy has been accompanied by a smear What Greenpeace demands energy model where fossil fuels lose their current prominence campaign against renewables by the large utilities (UNESA2). and are replaced by other more sustainable energy sources This campaign has been significantly led by Iberdrola, one of together with a more rational and sustainable energy usage. the largest utilities , that initially united behind the change to the The new energy sources needed to replace fossil fuels new energy model and whose official message was in favour of fall under the category of renewable energies. These are renewable technologies over several years. Despite being one now available and are being developed faster than anyone of the UNESA utilities with the highest percentage of renewable could have forecast, both in technical capacity and in cost energy, almost exclusively wind, it is the most publicly critical reduction. of renewable energies as a whole, especially solar thermal, and is able to influence government decisions to favour its On the other hand, the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster is own position. For some time now it has been lobbying against the most recent and dramatic reminder that nuclear energy, a renewable energies, although it has continued to market their far cry from being a feasible alternative, is, in reality, a danger positives, contradicting itself on numerous occasions. of the highest magnitude and must be abandoned with the utmost urgency. In this report, Greenpeace aims to shed light on the reasons Published April 2013 behind this contradiction and highlight where Iberdrola’s main by The feasibility of a sustainable energy model, which allows business lies, as well as showing what interests are hidden Greenpeace España for the urgent substitution of fossil fuels and nuclear energy, behind these attacks on renewables. San Bernardo 107 1ª planta has been confirmed by numerous studies, including the 28015 Madrid Greenpeace report Energy Revolution. In the case of Spain, The report reveals, through the different chapters, the real greenpeace.es the Greenpeace study Energy 3.01 demonstrates that not only reasons why Iberdrola is acting against renewable energies. an energy model based on efficiency, intelligence and It verifies what Iberdrola’s true business is within the energy 100% renewable is viable, but it also presents substantial sector, the utilitiy’s assets, real profits and its ability to influence, benefits for Spain, both from the environmental perspective as both public opinion and the political classes who end up well as economic and even territorial advantages. legislating in its favour. It breaks down the set of tailored laws that Iberdrola has managed to achieve thanks to its influence However, it is not only reports that point to this direction. and outlines Greenpeace demands, to both the utility and Reality itself is also progressing along the same line, with the Government, so that Spain can, once again, lead the more and more countries initiating the transition towards new development of renewable energies and pave the way towards sustainable energy models. an efficient, intelligent and 100% renewable energy model. Over the last decade, Spain has gained great prominence in The report analyses the period 2005-2012. To elaborate the the development of renewable energies, becoming one of the report Greenpeace has fundamentally employed the information leading countries in deploying renewables. Nevertheless, in available on the utility’s website (www.iberdrola.es) along with recent years there has been a turnaround in the policies that its annual reports and press releases. Other essential sources favoured this leadership, resulting in an important u-turn in of information used in the report include UNESA, the trade their development. association of which Iberdrola is a member, the National Energy Commission (CNE) and the electricity grid of Spain (REE, Red Eléctrica). Iberdrola, empresa enemiga de las renovables 3 XxxxxxxxxxxxFrancisco Camps, presidente de la Generalitat Valenciana en el momento de la fotografía, junto a Ignacio Sánchez Galán, presidente de Iberdrola, juntos durante una de las celebraciones de la Copa América de vela, en julio de 2007. Iberdrola usa todo su poder para influir en políticos y dirigentes, con el fin de lograr que la legislación favorezca sus intereses en energías sucias. Iberdrola’s business: 1 a dirty energy company Iberdrola is the main electric utility in Spain in terms of Combined renewables only represented 14.99% over turnover and has tried to convey its brand image as a this period. Iberdrola has centred its stake for renewables great green utility through its intensive communications almost exclusively in only one technology– wind. and marketing strategies. However, its main business lies in fossil fuels burning and nuclear technologies. Coal-fired power stations represented 9.7% of total Despite sending out messages of support for a change production. It should be highlighted that over the last four in the energy model over a period of time, in reality it years energy generation from these types of power plant maintained its commitment to conventional technologies. has risen by 34% compared to the period 2005-2008. This increase results from the takeover of Scottish Power, In table 1, in the period studied in this report (2005- which has a high percentage of coal in its mix. 2012) in both Spain and abroad, 85.01% of Iberdrola’s power generation used conventional Iberdrola’s main interest lies in the gas business. Gas technologies3 and only 14.99% used renewables has been one of Iberdrola’s biggest ventures in recent (excluding hydroelectric reservoirs )4. years, not just in generation but also in the supply of gas to its 3.5m plus customers, an important facet in the Of the total 1,017,523 GWh generated over these eight utility’s business, accounting for 84,526 Gwh5. years, 40.34% was generated through combined cycle gas power plants. That is to say, just through the use of gas-fired power stations, Iberdrola produced 169.32% more energy -with its associated emissions and imported resources- than what it produced with clean and native energies. The second most utilised energy was nuclear, representing 19.23% of total generation. Table 1 Iberdrola production by technologies 2005-2012 (In GWh). Source: Iberdrola annual reports. Drawn up by Iberdrola. CONVENTIONALS Renewables 152.543 85,01% 14,99% RENEWABLES Combined cycle gas 410.330 C.H.P. 41.321 Nuclear 195.702 Fuel 6.049 Coal Big Scale Hydro 99.049 113.141 4 Iberdrola, empresa enemiga de las renovables Iberdrola, empresa enemiga de las renovables 5 The key to Iberdrola’s offensive on renewables As shown in table 2, in 2012 combined cycle gas To understand what this reduction signifies, in this It is clear that a recuperation in the market quota production accounted for 4.9%. There are a significant scenario, 2012 production would have been 26,950 that gas held five years ago would suppose a The significant fall in combined cycle gas production is decline in combined cycle production and a rise in the GWh more (estimated data). Furthermore, if the considerable increase in profits. The expansion of key to explaining the reason behind Iberdrola’s intense percentage of renewable production (17.25% in 2011 accumulation over these years is taken into account, renewable power has harmed the company’s significant campaign against renewable energy in Spain. compared to 21.38% in 2012). At first glance the data the figure would rise to 95,000 GWh (estimated data). gas investment. For this reason Iberdrola has focused could be interpreted to show the utility is opting for a If the average market price for each year is applied to its attack on renewables, especially solar technologies As shown in table 2, in 2012 conventional technologies sustainable energy model, committing less and less to this production, it would mean a turnover of €4.25bn7 where it has a minimum market quota, denouncing what accounted for 78.62% of generation compared to gas and backing renewables. However, this recent rise in (estimated data) just for Iberdrola. they see as the unsustainable increase in the total cost of 21.38% for renewables. Nuclear energy accounted for proportion of renewable generation is not a consequence the premiums for these technologies. 45.55% of total energy production. Iberdrola in Spain of an investment policy in these technologies, but rather But bearing in mind that combined cycle plants make is a utility with a large nuclear component. The nuclear the result of a spectacular fall in production from its 12% above the average price, this amount would rise to business brings the utility great profit that it wants Spanish combined cycle gas power plants. €5.5bn (estimated data). continue. As evidenced the recent request for extension of the operating license that Nuclenor (formed by Endesa The reason for this decrease is because in recent years This amount would rise even further when taking into and Iberdrola) has called for Garoña nuclear power plant. big utilities decided to focus a large part of their business account that, if renewable energy did not exist, the on gas, massively expanding the installation of this market price would have increased notably. technology (27,1236 MW in Spain, of which 5,893 MW came from Iberdrola).