SOMERSET, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Ignacio Galán, Chairman and CEO of Iberdrola and Chairman of AVANGRID, today joined President Joe Biden in support of his actions to advance the U.S. offshore wind industry and promote climate resilience while also creating jobs and lowering energy costs for families. The event was held at Brayton Point in Somerset –a former 1,600-Megawatt (MW) coal plant that will be transformed into a subsea cable manufacturing facility that was catalyzed by AVANGRID’s 1,232 MW Commonwealth Wind project.
Other federal officials that joined President Biden at this event included White House National Climate Advisor Gina McCarthy, Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry, Senator Edward Markey (MA), Senator Elizabeth Warren (MA), Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (RI), Representative Jake Auchincloss (MA-04), and Representative Bill Keating (MA-09).
“As a company truly committed to building a cleaner, more sustainable energy future, we support the Administration’s action to advance the U.S. offshore wind industry and build climate resilient communities, taking crucial steps to tackle the urgent crisis of climate change,” said Ignacio Galán. “The investment we are making in our three advanced offshore wind farms off the coast of Massachusetts alone will exceed $10 billion. AVANGRID and the entire Iberdrola Group stand with the United States in its effort to build a clean energy future, and strong actions like the measures announced by President Biden today are essential to advance the energy transition.”
During the event, President Biden outlined a series of actions to advance the U.S. offshore wind industry and promote climate resilience while also creating jobs and lowering energy costs for families. The President emphasized the importance of offshore wind, including AVANGRID’s joint venture Vineyard Wind 1 project, as critical to meeting the United States’ climate goals, and highlighted the role of American utility companies, like AVANGRID, in advancing the innovation and grid modernization needed to support the clean energy economy of the future.
Iberdrola and AVANGRID are well positioned to support the Administration’s efforts to take on global climate change and, true to its Environmental, Social, Governance and Financial (ESG+F) principles, is taking real steps to help the U.S. meet its clean energy goals, including the Biden Administration’s target of deploying 30 Gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind by 2030, while also stimulating economic growth through bold investments in clean energy.
AVANGRID is the third largest onshore renewable operator in the U.S. with a portfolio of 8.4 Gigawatts (GW) of wind and solar installed capacity and a 23 GW pipeline of new projects. The company also committed to being carbon neutral by 2035, being the first US utility to set a goal for neutrality.
In February 2022, AVANGRID and Prysmian Group made a historic announcement that Prysmian Group will transform the former 1,600 MW coal-fired power plant, a site with an ideal waterfront location and large acreage, into a state-of-the-art factory to build specialized transmission cables for the growing offshore wind industry in the U.S. and globally.
AVANGRID catalyzed this deal by committing to procure cables from this manufacturer for its Park City and Commonwealth Wind projects. The partnership between both companies will result in a $200 million investment and will create more than 200 good paying manufacturing jobs at Brayton Point.
Commonwealth Wind is the largest offshore wind project in New England and will create 11,000 full time equivalent jobs over the project’s lifetime while generating enough energy to power 750,000 homes annually. The project will also deliver a host of energy, environmental, and workforce benefits to Massachusetts, including a first-in-the-nation partnership to supply offshore wind power to municipal utilities, significant investments in the development of a diverse, inclusive, and equitable workforce, and an investment in New Bedford to create an offshore wind operations and maintenance control center.
In January 2022, AVANGRID announced the completion of the restructuring of its existing Vineyard Wind joint venture to become the leading offshore wind developer in New England. In total, AVANGRID has a projected offshore wind pipeline of 5 Gigawatts (GW) on the East Coast of the United States – enough to power more than two million households. In addition to its 50% stake in the first-in-the-nation Vineyard Wind 1 project (800 MW total), AVANGRID owns 100% of Commonwealth Wind (1200 MW to Massachusetts), Park City Wind (804 MW to Connecticut) and Kitty Hawk Wind (2500 MW off the coast of North Carolina).
Within Iberdrola’s global renewables pipeline, totaling 90 GW, offshore wind has become one of the group’s central growth opportunities. Over the last year, Iberdrola has invested in new growth platforms in other countries such as Poland, Sweden, Ireland, Japan, and Australia, which has increased the size of the group’s global offshore wind portfolio to 31.7 GW.
About AVANGRID: AVANGRID, Inc. (NYSE: AGR) aspires to be the leading sustainable energy company in the United States. Headquartered in Orange, CT with approximately $40 billion in assets and operations in 24 U.S. states, AVANGRID has two primary lines of business: Avangrid Networks and Avangrid Renewables. Avangrid Networks owns and operates eight electric and natural gas utilities, serving more than 3.3 million customers in New York and New England. Avangrid Renewables owns and operates a portfolio of renewable energy generation facilities across the United States. AVANGRID employs more than 7,000 people and has been recognized by JUST Capital in 2021 and 2022 as one of the JUST 100 companies – a ranking of America’s best corporate citizens. In 2022, AVANGRID ranked second within the utility sector for its commitment to the environment and the communities it serves. The company supports the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals and was named among the World’s Most Ethical Companies in 2022 for the fourth consecutive year by the Ethisphere Institute. For more information, visit www.avangrid.com.
About Iberdrola: Iberdrola is one of the world's biggest energy companies and a leader in renewables, spearheading the energy transition to a low carbon economy. The group supplies energy to almost 100 million people in dozens of countries. With a focus on renewable energy, smart networks and smart solutions for customers, Iberdrola’s main markets include Europe (Spain, the United Kingdom, Portugal, France, Germany, Italy and Greece), the United States, Brazil, Mexico and Australia. The company is also present in growth markets such as Japan, Taiwan, Ireland, Sweden and Poland, among others.
With a workforce of nearly 40,000 and assets in excess of €141.7 billion, across the world, Iberdrola helps to support 400,000 jobs across its supply chain, with annual procurement of €12.2 billion. A benchmark in the fight against climate change, Iberdrola has invested more than €130 billion over the past two decades to help build a sustainable energy model, based on sound environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles.
