The Spain-United States Chamber of Commerce in New York, which promotes economic relations between the two countries and has become one of the most important transatlantic business organizations, received His Majesty King Felipe VI this morning. The meeting was attended by Pedro Azagra, CEO of Iberdrola USA (Avangrid), Iberdrola’s subsidiary in the United States.
Pedro Azagra has shown the King “the importance of leadership in Spanish companies in the United States”. In this sense, the representatives of Iberdrola USA (Avangrid) as the main Spanish investment company in the United States.
The Chamber, founded in New York in 1959, is an American and private non-profit institution that promotes bilateral trade and investment.
It represents the interests of companies that have established or are interested in establishing trade and business relations between Spain and the United States and promotes and strengthens relations between companies, from entrepreneurs and SMEs to large companies.
Iberdrola’s history in the United States is a story of growth. In less than two decades, the company chaired by Ignacio Sánchez Galán has become, through its subsidiary, one of the largest groups in the North American electricity sector, trading since 2015 on the New York Stock Exchange. Avangrid has contributed to Iberdrola becoming the most valuable company on the Spanish Stock Exchange with a capitalization of around 74,000 million euros and the first European energy company.
The firm is present in 25 states and manages more than 9,200 megawatts (MW) of generation capacity, of which more than 8,300 MW from renewables (mainly wind and photovoltaic solar), and more than 170,000 kilometers of power lines through eight distributors in New York, Connecticut, Maine and Massachusetts. In addition, the Spanish company has a portfolio of high-quality renewable projects in the United States of more than 22,000 MW, which represent a stable platform for continued growth over the next few years as the country meets its decarbonization goals.
Iberdrola plans to invest more than 30,000 million dollars between 2020 and 2025 in electrical and renewable networks, with the aim of doubling its clean energy capacity in 2025.
Iberdrola has also been a pioneer in offshore wind power in the United States, where it manages and develops a portfolio of more than 5,000 MW. It has the support of the Biden Administration, which is accelerating the implementation of this technology after committing to reaching 30 GW in 2030.
In December 2021, the Spanish company began construction of the first large offshore wind farm in the United States (Vineyard Wind 1), which will be operational in 2023/24. The 800-megawatt (MW) project, located about 15 miles south of the coast of Martha’s Vineyard, will generate enough wind power to meet the demand of more than 400,000 homes. Its implementation will also prevent the emission of more than 1.6 million tons of carbon dioxide per year, the equivalent of removing 325,000 vehicles from the roads.
It also owns the Kitty Hawk development area (2,500 MW), in North Carolina, and has begun the process of obtaining BOEM permits for the Kitty Hawk North project (800 MW), the first project to be developed in this area, and manages other parks in an earlier phase of development.
Likewise, in January 2022, it closed the takeover of the offshore wind portfolio that it shared with CIP (Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners) in the United States, more than 2,000 megawatts (MW) of capacity that make it one of the largest developers of this technology all over the world. This portfolio includes Commonwealth Wind, a project selected at the end of last year to supply energy to the electrical companies of Massachusetts. At 1,232 megawatts (MW), it is the largest offshore wind facility on the country’s east coast, will create 11,000 full-time equivalent jobs over its lifetime, and generate enough power to power 750,000 homes a year.
In the deal, the Spanish company also obtained exclusive ownership of Park City Wind, a marine project with a secured PPA and pending permits from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), which, with its 804 MW, will cover 14% of the electricity demand of the state of Connecticut and will avoid the emission of more than 25 million tons of CO2. Through the partners agreement, Iberdrola retains 50% of the Vineyard Wind 1 park as well as the right to take control of it during the exploitation phase.
In total, Iberdrola’s investment in its offshore portfolio in the United States could exceed 15,000 million dollars in the coming years.
In addition, the Iberdrola group manages eight public service companies in New York, Connecticut, Maine and Massachusetts, serving a population of seven million people, with 3.3 million direct customers.
