The president of Iberdrola, Ignacio Sánchez Galán, took part this Friday in front of a dedicated audience at its shareholders’ meeting, before which he boasted about the company’s management and the good prospects for the business.
“We are worth more than all the Spanish energy companies combined.” “The wind is blowing in our favor.” “We are in the best situation to advance in a virtuous circle of growth”…. These are just some of the many enthusiastic phrases spoken this Friday by Ignacio Sánchez Galán to the shareholders gathered at his headquarters in Bilbao.
Triumphalism has dominated a speech that has recalled that Iberdrola exceeded 150,000 million euros in assets and also broke its results record, with a net profit of 4,803 million euros. Along the same lines, he pointed out that the company will pay 3.5 billion in dividends, “the largest in its history.” Data that, according to him, “ratifies the success of the strategy that Iberdrola launched two decades ago”, betting on renewable energies.
A bet that is reflected in the value of the company, it is the third largest electricity company in the world by market capitalization, and that Galán trusts will continue to do so in the future. “Technological advance, together with the choice of electricity as the preferred way to cover more and more energy uses by millions of consumers around the world, make electrification an unstoppable process,” he noted.
The manager used data from the International Energy Agency to support his vision. According to them, electricity consumption in industry will grow by 60% between now and 2040; that in road transport, demand will multiply by 4 by 2030 and almost 20 times by 2050; and that in the air conditioning of buildings, electricity will progressively replace oil, coal and gas until, in just 15 years, it will account for more than 60% of that energy consumption in both Europe and the United States.
Galán has described 2023 as a “turning year.” A point of no return in the advancement of the energy transition and has focused its optimism on new energy demanders such as data centers. Only the four main technology companies consumed an amount of energy similar to that of 40 million people in 2022, according to data managed by Iberdrola. It is estimated that the development of tools linked to artificial intelligence will double demand before 2026, reaching consumption equivalent to that of Spain, the United Kingdom and Italy combined.
An environment in which large investments by companies and states will be necessary, as well as “adequate network planning by regulators and system operators.” As far as Iberdrola is concerned, Galán confirmed his commitment to addressing the necessary investments with the support of the large investment funds that are in his capital. Specifically, Galán made special mention of Abdulla bin Mohammed, executive director of Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), one of the company’s main shareholders and who has been present in Bilbao. “If we do not have the support of shareholders like His Excellency Sheikh Abdulla bin Mohammed bin Saud Al-Thani who is here with us today showing his indisputable support for what we are doing, we could hardly achieve it,” Galan acknowledged.
