Main consumption of materials corresponds to fuel and water for cooling. 

There is also consumption of chemical products, which are used (to a much lesser extent) in the generation processes, basically arising from tasks consisting of the purification of gases and effluents and the reconditioning of equipment.  

IBERDROLA's strategy aimed at replacing production technologies (more renewable energy and more natural gas combined cycle plants) achieves a reduction of the consumption ratios of fuel, energy and water and other chemicals per GWh produced (eco-efficiency). Moreover, chemicals are managed according to best practices in order to prevent risks to the environment. 

The information provided in this section refers to the chemicals used in the generation processes which both quantitatively and qualitatively are more representative owing to their possible effect on the environment, as shown in the table below.

Also, the total of maintenance oil consumption in 2012 was 3.138 tones.

Elimination of PCBs

Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) are substances that are not produced by the Company’s activities, but rather were sold during the last century by the manufacturers of electrical equipment and used mainly in transformers and condensers due to their optimal characteristics as a dielectric insulation. The possession by the Group of PCBs is centered in Spain and in the United States of America, mainly within the electricity distribution activity, transformers with pure pyralene oil, condenser batteries, and transformers for auxiliary services. 

In Spain, the process that commenced in 1999 to eliminate all equipment manufactured with PCB fluids or contaminated with a concentration exceeding 500 ppm of PCB has concluded.

Although the period set by law for the elimination thereof ended in 2010, IBERDROLA maintains a service for the analysis, withdrawal, and elimination of equipment containing PCBs, including the performance of a free diagnosis with no commitment.

The use of equipment with PCBs must be eliminated in the other countries by the year 2025, pursuant to hte Stockholm treaty.

In the United States of America, old transformers in service containing PCBs are managed as hazardous waste until the end of their useful lives. 335.27 t of PCBs were managed in 2012, including PCB-contaminated oil, electrical equipment, and transformers.

At the Elektro subsidiary in Brazil, 392.36 t of pyralene and PCB-contaminated equipment was managed during 2012, and there are 696.69 t to be eliminated in the coming years.

At ScottishPower, 125.5 t of PCBs from transformers and condensers were eliminated.