At the Climate Summit in Baku, Iberdrola’s Executive Chairman, Ignacio Galán, highlighted the importance of COP29 as a timely opportunity for decisive action to adapt infrastructure to the challenges of climate change.
Galán stated, “We need greater security of supply, resilience, and better resource management. Investing in electrification is the optimal path forward, as it simultaneously fosters reindustrialization, competitiveness, and job creation.” This statement followed Galán’s recent visit to the Valencian Community, where he witnessed firsthand the impacts of severe weather on the region.
A seasoned attendee of Climate Summits since 2009, Galán spoke at a high-level event, Increasing Energy Storage and Grids as Critical Enablers to Deliver COP29 Action Agenda, organized in collaboration with the Global Renewable Alliance. He voiced support for COP29’s objective to increase energy storage capacity sixfold by 2030 and to extend power grids, critical measures for reaching net-zero emissions globally.
Iberdrola has integrated these priorities into its business strategy. Approximately 60% of the company’s investment plan, totaling over €27 billion for 2024-2026, focuses on expanding and strengthening grids across the United States, United Kingdom, Brazil, and Spain. This investment is crucial for integrating renewable energy sources and meeting rising demand from sectors like electric vehicles, heat pumps, and data centers. Iberdrola’s grid assets are expected to grow by 38%, reaching €54 billion, with €15 billion designated for transmission grids. Of these assets, 85% operate within stable, closed frameworks for the coming years.
Iberdrola, participating in over twenty events at COP29, aims to address the energy transition amid a complex geopolitical landscape and to collaborate with global stakeholders to accelerate climate action.
The Increasing Energy Storage and Grids event underscores COP29’s focus on energy infrastructure as a foundation for climate goals. This initiative introduces the Global Commitment on Energy Storage and Grids, which sets a target of 1,500 GW of installed storage capacity by 2030—a sixfold increase over 2022 levels. This ambitious target aligns with the COP28 goal of tripling global renewable capacity by 2030 and supports enhanced Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).
Key global energy organizations participated in the event, including the International Energy Agency (IEA), where Executive Director Fatih Birol emphasized the need to align investments in grids and storage with renewables to maintain the 1.5ºC climate target. Adair Turner, Chairman of the Energy Transitions Commission, called for rapid electrification and enhanced investment in grids and storage as essential steps to achieving climate objectives.
