1 May 2009
Confidence in Iberdrola
There's nothing Quixotic about Iberdrola's assault on wind power, writes Tom Nicholls
Don Quijote attacked windmills in La Mancha, mistaking them for giants. Wind power's detractors claim intermittency and high costs make it impractical at scale and that those that believe otherwise are also deluded. But there is no doubting the value of wind power to Iberdrola. It has helped transform the company from Spanish utility to global energy company in under a decade: in 2000, Spain accounted for 99% of the company's core earnings (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation – ebitda). Last year, traditional Spanish generation activities – those that predate the expansion into renewables – contributed just 37% to ebitda, with 57% coming from renewable energy and i
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