Iberdrola will allocate close to 25 billion reais (about 4.5 billion euros) to new electrical infrastructures in the State of Bahia until 2030, thus reinforcing its commitment to distribution networks in Brazil. This was announced by the company's executive chairman, Ignacio Sánchez Galán, during the Bahía Farm Show, the largest agricultural fair in the country.
The program, which will be developed through its subsidiary Neoenergia Coelba, includes the construction of 54 additional substations, more than 2,000 kilometers of high-voltage lines, and 42,000 kilometers of medium-voltage networks.
Thanks to this investment effort, the State of Bahia will concentrate 50% of the resources allocated to distribution networks that Neoenergia plans to undertake in the next five years. In total, Iberdrola's Brazilian subsidiary will invest 50 billion reais (9 billion euros) following the recent extension of its distribution concessions in the country.
In his speech at the Bahía Farm Show, Galán recalled that the signing of the renewal of distribution concessions for another 30 years, last May, "has been key to ensuring predictability through regulations that encourage investments within a framework of legal certainty, such as the one maintained in Brazil, thus driving the start of a new investment cycle."
The inaugural ceremony of the event, in which Neoenergia has been participating for more than ten years, was also attended by the Vice President of the Federative Republic of Brazil, Geraldo Alckmin; the Minister of Mines and Energy, Alexandre Silveira, and the Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, André de Paula; the governor of Bahia, Jerônimo Rodrigues, and the senator for Bahia, Jaques Wagner, as well as other authorities and institutions, along with Neoenergia's CEO, Eduardo Capelastegui.
Galán also highlighted the role of electrification in advancing towards a more competitive, self-sufficient, secure, and sustainable energy system, and emphasized that investments in electrical networks and infrastructures are "a true engine of development," generating employment and stimulating the local economy, thanks to the purchase of equipment, the creation of new industries, and the training of professionals.
STRATEGIC MARKET
Iberdrola has been operating in Brazil for almost thirty years and serves more than 40 million people through Neoenergia. The subsidiary, present in 18 states and the Federal District, is the main electricity distribution group in the country and the company that allocates the most resources to electrical infrastructures in the Brazilian market.
Along these lines, Galán insisted that Brazil is "a strategic market for Iberdrola," where it began its activity in 1997 with the integration of the distributors Coelba (in Bahia) and Cosern (in Rio Grande do Norte). Since then, the energy company has channeled more than 120 billion reais (20 billion euros) into the country.