This investment comes after the utility has spent more than three years collaborating with RTS in the development of solutions based on cork, hollow ceramic microspheres and aerogel, a technological breakthrough to protect wind structures and the transformation rooms of offshore substations. Iberdrola aims to include this material in the construction and maintenance of offshore wind farms, as it improves quality and brings with it significant savings.
These products can also be used in building energy renovation projects. RTS is an Andalusian company founded in 2015 that has become a benchmark in thermal insulation manufacturing. The company is currently in the process of developing and approving products applicable to Iberdrola’s offshore wind and Smart Clima businesses.
The firm based in Utrera, Seville joins the Perseo portfolio, Iberdrola’s start-up programme, which has invested more than €200 M in companies since its creation in 2008 that develop innovative technologies and business models, focusing on those that improve the sustainability of the energy industry through greater electrification and decarbonisation of the economy. The programme focuses on technological collaboration with start-ups and emerging companies around the world, as well as on launching new innovative businesses in the power industry.
Another step in leadership
The entry into RTS is a further step towards consolidating Iberdrola’s leadership in renewables. Iberdrola is the world’s leading electricity company in terms of wind power capacity, with some 23,000 MW installed worldwide. Onshore wind power accounts for approximately 21,000 MW, 37% of the company’s total capacity, and its generation amounted to 33,000 GWh in the first nine months of the year, more than half of its total renewable production, which stood at 63,300 GWh.
Offshore wind power is also one of the major growth drivers of Europe’s largest electricity company in terms of stock market value, increasing by 47.5% in the last 12 months to almost 2,400 MW of capacity, thanks to its new wind farms in France and Germany.
