As a child, no one would have thought that he would become one of the richest men in the world after founding the Inditex empire. The Galician businessman started as a delivery boy at the Gala shirt store in Coruña and, little by little, became a visionary leader in the textile industry. According to Forbes, he has 81.8 billion euros in assets. Due to the size of the companies he undertakes and the perseverance of his desire, Amancio Ortega would be the most quixotic manager in Spain, although he is challenged by the fortune of businessmen who have been lucky.
Of course you already know all that. What may sound like something new to you is the latest stroke of the hand (or checkbook) of this Galician. Amancio Ortega, through his investment vehicle Pontegadea, has just closed what will be his largest operation in renewables with the taking of a 49% stake in a mega portfolio of Repsol wind and photovoltaic projects in Spain, in a new alliance for the promotion of green energies with energy.
Specifically, the operation values ??the assets of the so-called Ebro project – a portfolio of more than 618 renewable megawatts (MW) located in various regions of Spain such as Aragon, Castilla-León or Andalusia – at a range of between 800 and 700 million of euros, so Pontegadea’s investment amounts to 363 million. Whether or not this amount is considered pocket change for the owner of Zara, the fact is that his bet is very representative of where what the fine people call “business windows” are. Ortega ties the knot – and he is not the first to do so – to green energies and it is known that he does not usually stitch without a thread. Wherever there is an opportunity to make money, Don Amancio is there.
Spain is going ahead in the promotion of renewables. We write Spain, not Catalonia (we will get into this idea later). At this moment, it is the country with the most potential for solar energy in Europe. And the development of wind power is going from strength to strength, as witnessed by the volume of investments planned by energy companies in the short and medium term. There is room to cover, which is not just a metaphor but a literal expression: emptied Spain offers vast lands to plant mills there that facilitate the energy transition that the Paris Agreement foresees and that must entail a drastic change in the way of producing. electricity between now and 2030.
Catalonia, as usual, ‘is different’. Wherever there is an opportunity to make money, there appears a conflict or an anti-something platform. But that would be for another article.
