SEAT S.A., Iberdrola and the Volkswagen Group strengthen their commitment to electric mobility by signing a strategic alliance to promote electrification in Spain. The main objectives of the collaboration agreement, which was signed within the framework of the Power Day organized today by the Volkswagen Group, are to supply renewable energy in the electric vehicle value chain, develop and create a public charging infrastructure network.
Firstly, this strategic plan calls for the supply of renewable energy for the Volkswagen Group’s facilities in the Iberian Peninsula. With this move the Volkswagen Group is taking a further step towards its goal of becoming an environmentally neutral company by 2050, in line with the Paris Agreement. The agreement makes Iberdrola the energy partner of reference, which will help the automotive group achieve these targets.
The alliance, which can be extended to other countries, also calls for the supply of energy with guarantees of renewable origin and other energy solutions to the Volkswagen Group itself, SEAT S.A. and its end customers.
Another key area of action of the agreement to promote electromobility will be the contribution to the development of the country’s charging infrastructure. The three partners estimate that, by taking into account the expected evolution of the electric vehicle fleet in Spain, the roll-out of a network of around 350,000 urban and interurban public charging points will be needed by 2030. Iberdrola is developing a public charging infrastructure plan that will ensure a sufficient number of charging points, including fast and ultra-fast charging (HPC), to serve the country’s main corridors and cities.
Volkswagen Group CEO and Chairman of the Board of SEAT S.A., Dr. Herbert Diess said. “With the signing of this agreement, we are laying the foundations for the future of electric mobility in the Iberian Peninsula in a definitive step towards its electrification. Spain has great potential to become a hub for electric mobility in Europe, and to do so, we need to transform the second largest European automotive industry”.
SEAT S.A. Vice-president for Human Resources and Organisation Xavier Ros highlights that “despite the complexity of the situation resulting from the pandemic, our company’s employees have continued to promote and share their ongoing desire to improve and their innovative spirit. Their attitude is an additional impulse to overcome the challenges of the company and of the current moment, enabling us to detect possible ideas for improvement at the source that can have a positive collective impact.”
When selecting the best initiatives, criteria such as the contribution of value and their potential for economic savings are taken into account. At the same time, initiatives that don’t immediately translate into tangible benefits as they are originally proposed, but that can be applicable due to their originality in some other aspect, are reoriented, resulting in added value for other proposals.
“The agreement shows the potential of bringing industry leaders together to accelerate the decarbonisation of the economy and its enormous positive impact on the environment and biodiversity, as well as on economic recovery, strengthening the value chain and creating millions of sustainable jobs across Europe” said Iberdrola President Ignacio Galán. “We have the technology, capabilities, knowledge and determination to jointly create a more sustainable model for everyone and shape an ecosystem that enables our country to continue to lead in this area at European level. This strategic alliance represents a giant step forward on this path” concluded Galán.
You Might Also Like: Solaris Joins European Clean Hydrogen Alliance
In turn, SEAT President Wayne Griffiths stated that “we are at a historic moment in which we have the opportunity to pave the way for a sustainable industrial future in Spain. To do so, the first step is to create an ecosystem for electric vehicles, and public charging infrastructure is essential.”
Volkswagen Group and SEAT, promoting electrification in Spain
This agreement is part of the work that the Volkswagen Group and SEAT S.A. have been carrying out in recent months to relaunch the Spanish automotive industry based on principles such as modernisation, added value, competitiveness, digitalisation, inclusiveness and training.
To accelerate the development of an electric mobility ecosystem, the Volkswagen Group and SEAT S.A. aim to lead a project that will serve as a driving force for large and medium-sized companies, with the collaboration of key organisations in different sectors and with great potential for job creation, especially for young people.
With the second largest car manufacturing industry in Europe, Spain has a major responsibility to reach the European Green Deal targets by 2030. For this, it is essential that Spain accelerates the creation of the electric vehicle ecosystem, stimulates demand and develops public charging infrastructure.
Iberdrola: Electrification, the basis for growth and the green economy
For the past two decades, Iberdrola has been demonstrating that the energy transition can act as a key driving force in the transformation of the industrial fabric and in the green recovery of the economy and employment.
To this end, it has launched a historic investment plan of 150 billion euros by 2030 – 75 billion euros by 2025 – with which it will triple renewable capacity and double network assets and take advantage of the opportunities of the energy revolution facing the world’s leading economies. In Spain, these investments amount to around 14.3 billion euros by 2025.
After investments of 120 billion euros since 2021, Iberdrola is a global energy leader with an installed renewable capacity of 35,000 MW, making its generation capacity one of the cleanest in the energy sector.
The company is rolling out a sustainable mobility plan, with which it will step up the installation of charging points for electric vehicles in the coming years, prioritising high-efficiency stations on corridors and motorways both in Spain and in other European countries.
With emissions of 98 g CO2/kWh in 2020, which are already two-thirds lower than the European average, the strategy of investing in clean energy and grids will lead Iberdrola to be a “carbon neutral” company in Europe by 2030.
