Iberdrola has agreed to sell most of its power generation assets in Mexico to state-owned Mexico Infrastructure Partners (MIP) for $6 billion (€5.5 billion), in the biggest divestment to date spanish company
The assets sold consist of combined cycle gas power plants with a combined power of 8,436 megawatts (MW) and a wind farm of a further 103 MW. MIP will acquire the ownership of several subsidiaries of Iberdrola México, through which these infrastructures are managed, which add up to a total of 8,539 MW.
After this move, the Spanish group will remain in the country with a portfolio of just over 2,000 MW of renewables, gas cycles and cogeneration, in addition to the electricity marketing subsidiary, which from now on will be in charge of signing bilateral contracts with third parties for the purchase and sale of megawatt hours.
The assets sold, especially the combined cycles, are part of the infrastructure development plans with which the Mexican Government renovated its generation park years ago. At that time, Iberdrola took advantage of the opportunities and became one of the electricity companies of reference.
In recent times, Iberdrola had become one of the companies regularly cited by the Mexican president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, when criticizing the multinationals that operate in the country. Late last year, Iberdrola’s Mexico CEO Enrique Alba reported that the company’s efforts would be diverted to the United States, where there is “legal and regulatory certainty for the company’s investors.” .
The group chaired by Ignacio Galán has been committed in recent years to the development of electrical and renewable networks, with special emphasis on the United States, the United Kingdom and Brazil.
The operation announced yesterday, subject to the approval of the regulatory authorities, is part of a wider asset rotation plan announced by Iberdrola, which has included nearly 5,000 MW until the year 2025.
The company, which earned 4.338 billion euros last year, up 11%, cited Mexico as a country where business performance had been worse in its latest results presentation. In any case, the profit exceeded the forecasts of the company, which aspired to reach 4,200 million euros. Last year’s financial year was marked by the sharp rise in energy prices as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
