Iberdrola secures €300m loan to wean coal-heavy countries onto renewables

World Bank deal comes with criteria for Iberdrola to double its installed renewables capacity

Spanish energy giant Iberdrola has secured support worth €300 million from the World Bank to bring renewables to countries that are currently fossil-fuel dependent such as Morocco, Poland and Vietnam.

The loan from the World Bank comes via its private sector investment arm, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), and is linked to environmental, social and corporate governance criteria.

José Sainz Armada, Iberdrola's director of Finance, Control and Corporate Development, said the loan “will allow Iberdrola to continue contributing to the energy transition, decarbonisation and electrification of developing countries, which are still highly dependent on fossil fuels".

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He added: It also consolidates IFC as one of our major allies in the financing of renewable projects."

Of the €300 million, €170 million has already been committed to finance onshore wind projects in Poland. In addition, both institutions are analysing collaboration options to support the development of new clean energy projects like offshore wind and green hydrogen in other emerging markets.

Doubling Iberdrola renewables

The loan is subject to two strategic ESG objectives being met by Iberdrola.

The first is to reduce the company's absolute direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions by more than 60% by 2030 from the 2020 baseline, including scopes one, two and three, from the company's operations, customers and supply chains.

The second objective is to more than double Iberdrola's installed renewables capacity by 2030, which at the end of the third quarter of 2023 exceeded 41GW.  

“This loan is a significant step in the global IFC-Iberdrola Energy Transition Partnership, which aims to support Iberdrola’s expansion and re-entry into emerging markets in need of decarbonizing their energy matrix,” said Alfonso García Mora, Vice President for Europe, Latin America, and the Caribbean at IFC.

“We look forward to partnering with Iberdrola on projects that can accelerate a just and equitable transition to a low-carbon and sustainable energy future in developing and emerging markets.” 

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