Iberdrola has invested around €338m in innovation, research and development (R&D&I) activities throughout 2021, a 15% increase compared to 2020.
These resources have been allocated to projects related to renewable energy, smart grids, digital transformation and green hydrogen.
As a result, the electricity company’s cumulative investment in R&D&I over the past decade exceeds €2bn.
This commitment to innovation has placed Iberdrola as the leading private utility in terms of investment in research, according to data from the EC’s 2021 Industrial Investment Scoreboard.
Iberdrola has continued to make progress in the implementation of smart grids and the digitisation of the electricity system.
The company has created the Global Smart Grids Innovation Hub, a new centre for innovation that has identified more than 120 projects for development worth €110m and has reached agreements with 30 technology partners for the development of grid digitalisation solutions, integration of renewables, deployment of electric vehicles and energy storage systems.
Another of the initiatives being undertaken by Iberdrola is the construction of the largest green hydrogen plant for industrial use in Europe.
The Puertollano (Ciudad Real) plant will comprise a 100MW solar photovoltaic plant, a lithium-ion battery system with a storage capacity of 20 MWh and one of the largest hydrogen production systems for electrolysis in the world (20MW).
In addition, the first phase of the new Barcelona hydrogen plant is now in commercial operation, which will enable up to 60 buses to be supplied with hydrogen by 2030.