IBERDROLA will invest $1,130 million dollars between 2010 and 2012 in Brazil, where it has been present since 1997 through its 39% stake in Neonergia, whose local partners include Banco do Brasil (12%) and Previ (49%).

Fernando Becker, Director of Corporate Resources for IBERDROLA Group, made this announcement at the ‘Brasil, alianza para la nueva economía global’ (Brazil: alliance for a new global economy) conference held today in Madrid.

The company, which up to 2009 had invested $3,640 million dollars in Brazil, will focus in the coming years on the construction of new environmentally-friendly power plants – it expects to bring on stream an additional 710 megawatts of hydro capacity by 2013 -. It will also make major investments to improve and expand the electricity distribution infrastructure.

Becker noted that IBERDROLA already has 1,740 MW of installed capacity in Brazil, after bringing 275 MW of hydro power on stream in 2009, and that since arriving in this country at the end of the 1990s, it has improved service quality by 60% in the areas where it operates.

He also highlighted that IBERDROLA has become the largest electricity distributor in North-eastern Brazil, with 28,300 gigawatt hours (GWh), giving it a 44% market share. It has close to 9 million supply points in the states of Bahia, Rio Grande do Norte and Pernambuco.

The Group also operates in Brazil through IBERDROLA RENOVABLES, which has a (50Mw) wind farm in Río do Fogo, and IBERDROLA INGENIERÍA, winner of several contracts to upgrade the Angra nuclear plant in the state of Rio de Janeiro and which is currently executing projects worth $90 million.

IBERDROLA’s Director of Corporate Resources also underscored the promising outlook for the Brazilian market, where electricity demand is expected to increase by 5.4% annually and where in the next 10 years installed capacity is expected to increase to 54,000 MW, of which 32,000 MW will be hydro power, and 22,000 MW thermal power.

IBERDROLA in Brazil in 2009

Fernando Becker also said that IBERDROLA will continue developing social programmes in Brazil, where in 2009 it invested $200 million through its investee Neonergia. The company’s participation in the “Luz para Todos” (Power for All) programme is particularly noteworthy. This initiative is backed by Brazil's Ministry of Energy and aims to provide access to electricity in rural and deprived areas of Brazil. Since 2004, over two million people have joined the grid via this programme.

In 2009, the Brazilian operations contributed €496 million to consolidated EBITDA, representing 7% of the Group’s total of €6,815.3 million. EBIT generated in Brazil last year amounted to €400 million.

Becker also emphasized the importance of Latin America in the Group’s strategy, underlining that it had been one of the main targets of the company’s international expansion. He also stated that the company’s total investment in Brazil had climbed to $11,200 million, while planned investment for the 2010-2012 period amounted to $2,200 million.

At the end of 2009, IBERDROLA had 6,800 MW of installed capacity in Latin America which annual output of 38,500 GWh and distributing 34,000 GW to approximately 10.2 million users. In all, Latin America contributed 13% of the group’s EBITDA and 24% of net profit.

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