Scottish Power Energy Networks (SPEN) is a subsidiary of Scottish Power and is a distribution and transmission network operator that keeps electricity flowing to homes and businesses throughout Central and Southern Scotland, North Wales, Merseyside, Cheshire and North Shropshire. They do this through the network of overhead lines and underground cables which they own and maintain.
Scottish Power is a subsidiary of the Spanish energy giant, Iberdrola whose headquarters are at Iberdrola Tower, Bilbao, Spain.
Officially opened on 21 February 2012, the Iberdrola Tower is now celebrating its fifth anniversary. In that period, it has become the epicentre of Bilbao's "Manhattan" and the home of 1,800-2,000 employees who work and socialise there on a daily basis. With 80% of its 50,000 m2 of useful area already in use, it is visited by around 2,500 people every month.
This great obelisk, whose triangular shape allows for making the most of the space, is in fact the tallest building in the city centre. With a built surface of around 62,000 square metres on 41 totally open floors, the projections of this prism's vertexes come together symbolically at a height of 1,000 metres.
The Torre Iberdrola has been conceived as a driving force for creating value for the company's employees, its surroundings and its customers. The internal distribution of the headquarters promotes teamwork, the transfer of knowledge and organisational learning in an ideal space, respectful of the environment, that contributes to operational efficiency.
Located in the renovated promenade of the Bilbao estuary, a short distance from the main areas and buildings of 21st century Bilbao — the Guggenheim Museum, the Euskalduna Palace, the Federico Moyua Square and the Campa de los Ingleses wharf — the group's headquarters is built on a site that reflects the company's commitment to the Basque Country and to the city where several companies that make up today's Iberdrola group were founded more than 100 years ago.
In the first half of 2018 Iberdrola's revenue was €17,586 bilillion with a net operating profit of €1.367 billion, 27% more than in the same period of the previous year. This increase is due to the positive performance of international business, the growing return from the €20 billion invested over the past five years, improved efficiency and the normalization of the operating conditions in its core markets.
Mission, Vision, and Values of the Iberdrola Group
19 July 2016
The Board of Directors of IBERDROLA, S.A. (the “Company”) is vested with the power to approve the mission, vision, and values of the group of companies of which the Company is the controlling entity, within the meaning established by law (the “Group”). The goal of this regulation is to formalise the mission, vision, and values of the Group approved by the Board of Directors as an independent norm within the Corporate Governance System.The mission, vision, and values of the Group constitute its corporate philosophy, inspire and take form in the Company’s By-Laws and in the other rules of the Corporate Governance System, govern the day-to-day activities thereof, channel its leadership role in all of its areas of activity, focus its strategy of maximising social dividends, and guide the ethical behaviour of all personnel participating in the daily construction of the Company’s corporate enterprise.
1. Mission of the Group
“Our mission is to create value sustainably in carrying out our activities for society, citizens, customers, employees, shareholders, and other stakeholders, as the leading multinational group in the energy sector providing a quality service through the use of environmentally friendly energy sources, which engages in innovation, leads the process of digital transformation in its area of activity, and is committed to the fight against climate change through all of its business activities, with a social dividend and the generation of employment and wealth, considering its employees to be a strategic asset. Along these lines, we foster their development, training, and measures of reconciliation, favouring a good working environment and equal opportunity. All of the foregoing is within the framework of our strategy of social responsibility and compliance with tax rules."
2. Vision of the Group
“We want to be the leading multinational group in the energy sector at the forefront of a better future, sustainably creating value with a quality service for people: citizens, customers, and shareholders (whom we care for and engage in our corporate life) and for the communities in which we carry out our activities, generating employment and wealth (with whom we engage in a constructive dialogue), known for our firm commitment to ethical principles, good corporate governance, and transparency, the safety of people and supply, operational quality and excellence, innovation, protection of the environment, customer focus, and the Sustainable Development Goals approved by the United Nations. Making it possible thanks to the work of our employeesand the people working with our suppliers and collaborators, whom we care for by offering all of our training resources andreconciliation measures for their development and to strengthen equality of opportunity."
3. Values of the Group.
The mission and vision of the Group is configured based on a firm commitment to twelve values that all of the Corporate Policies, internal rules, and other internal codes and procedures must follow:
a) The sustainable creation of value: “We want to lead the creation of value in a sustainable manner for society, citizens, customers, shareholders, and the communities in which we do business, equitably compensating all groups that contribute to the success of our business enterprise, and to make new investments seeking the maximisation of our social dividend, generating employment and wealth for society with a long-term vision that achieves a better future without compromising present results”.
b) Ethical principles: “We aspire for our conduct and that of the persons linked to us, including all participants in the value chain, to respond and adhere to ethical and generally accepted social responsibility principles, in addition to applicable laws and the Corporate Governance System”.
c) Good corporate governance and transparency: “We care for and engage people, citizens, customers, suppliers, employees, and shareholders in corporate life and constantly work to maintain leadership in corporate governance and transparency, at all times adopting the best generally recognised practices in the international markets, all within the framework of a diversified group that is organised efficiently and coordinated around Iberdrola, S.A. and the various country subholding companies and head of business companies, subject to common guidelines and the principle of subsidiarity”.
d) Development of our workforce: “We consider our employees to be a strategic asset, whom we care for and offer a good working environment, fostering their development, training, and measures of reconciliation, and favouring equal opportunity. We work to recruit, promote, and retain talent and encourage the personal and professional growth of all people belonging to our workforce, making them participants in our quest for a successful business enterprise and guaranteeing them a dignified and safe job”.
e) Social commitment: “We seek the sustainable development of the communities in which we do business and the well-being of citizens, customers, suppliers, employees, and shareholders, who contribute to achieving the corporate interest of Iberdrola, S.A., which is the basic assumption for the success of our business enterprise. We affect local economic development, generating employment and wealth around us, and we pay our social dividend to the communities in which we do business. Aware of this reality, we contribute to the development of such communities through their participation in our business enterprise and our strategy of social responsibility, with measures intended to promote education, research, culture, and art, and to protect vulnerable groups”.
f) Sense of belonging: “We care for and involve all stakeholders in our enterprise, engaging in continuous and constructive dialogue with them in order to know their expectations and to build strong bonds, and thus generate trust and forge a sense of belonging to an excellent company of which they feel they are an integral part”.
g) Safety and reliability: “We work to offer a service of high quality energy supply for society, citizens, and customers and to carry out all our activities within a safe and reliable environment. The safety of our employees and of the people at the facilities of the companies of the Iberdrola group and in the surrounding areas, and that of our customers, as well as the adoption of best practices in the areas of safety and occupational health, form an unwavering pillar of our processes”.
h) Quality: “We believe that the outstanding management of all of our processes and resources is an essential tool in the creation of value for citizens, customers, shareholders, employees, and the other stakeholders”.
i) Innovation: “We believe that innovation is a strategic variable that affects all the businesses of the Group and all the activities we engage in. We want to be leaders in innovation within the energy sector, basing our activities in this area on sustainable development, the promotion of renewable energy, the exploitation of opportunities offered by all types of digitalisation, automation, and a wageron technologies and new business models”.
j) Respect for the environment: “Our leadership in the fight against climate change, the development of clean energy, and respect for the environment are the pillars of our energy production model and the factor that distinguishes us in the energy sector as one of the leading companies worldwide”.
k) Customer focus: “We work to know the needs and expectations of our customers, in order to offer them better solutions, defending the proper operation of the market under free competition, continuously working to maintain and increase their satisfaction, strengthening their connection to the Iberdrola group, and promoting responsible consumption”.
l) Institutional loyalty: “We base our relations with the public authorities on respect for the law, loyalty, trust, professionalism, collaboration, reciprocity, and good faith. We consider the taxes we pay in the countries and territories in which we operate as the principal contribution to sustaining public expenditures, and therefore as one more of our contributions to society”.
4. Acceptance
The professionals of the Group expressly accept the content of the Mission, Vision, and Values of the Iberdrola group. Professionals who join or become part of the Group in the future must also expressly accept the content hereof.
The Mission, Vision, and Values of the Iberdrola group shall be attached to the employment agreements of all Group professionals.This Mission, Vision, and Values of the Iberdrola group, which contains the corporate philosophy of the Company initially formalised as such in 2002, was approved by the Board of Directors as a standard of the Corporate Governance System on 23 February 2016 and was last amended on 19 July 2016.
Extracts from SPEN's various policies.
Environmental Policy, April 2016
Respect nature, biodiversity, and the historical and artistic heritage in the natural environment where the Group’s facilities are located.
Innovation Strategy 2018
To us, innovation is doing things differently, developing new solutions and advancing ideas to deliver benefits for the customers we serve. Innovation provides novel options to enhance all aspects of our business and improve the service we provide.
It would appear after reading the highlighted sections above that we don't have to worry:
Talk of social responsibility, creating value for and engaging with communities, protection of the environment, long term vision, respecting nature, biodiversity and artistic heritage in the natural environment. Also talk of innovation, trust and transparency.
We dont see a great deal of innovation replacing 20m. pylons erected in 1930 being replaced by pylons up to 35m. in 2023.
Existing Line 20m pylons
So pylons erected in 1930 will be replaced by bigger pylons in 2023. At the turn of the century in the year 2100 our grandchildren's children's, children's, children's will say " is that the best innovation they could come up with"?
Projected pylons, the smallest (as shown), 25m, the largest 35m (add on 40%) and an average of 29m.
We certainly don't see SPEN/Iberdrola protecting the environment and protecting nature but what about trust and transparency ?
It is very important that everyone who lives in Dumfries and Galloway reads their "Innovation Project" for Dumfries & Galloway
We have asked SPEN several times if there was a grand plan for the area with regards to the KTR Project and wind farms and the answer has always been no. I think this document shows that D & G is a very special case and that the environment will be further degraded far beyond the KTR project.
DUMFRIES & GALLOWAY Integrated Network Management
"Dumfries and Galloway has among the UK’s highest proportion of connected renewable generation relative to its demand for energy. That can present difficulties when it comes to exporting renewable energy back to the electricity grid and connecting new projects. Currently, 90MW of distributed generation are connected in Dumfries and Galloway, while more than 200MW of additional distributed generation are contracted to connect in the future. As a result, we are implementing a revolutionary, wide-scale integrated network management zone across the area. It’s the first integrated network management scheme of its kind in the UK and will span 11 grid supply points and interface with the System Operator. The project will help manage transmission network constraints by using an active network management (ANM) system to monitor and manage exports from distributed generation on SPEN’s network. As well as resulting in fewer constraints for existing distributed energy resources, the system will enable the connection of new ones. By improving access to a heavily congested part of the network, we are directly supporting the move to a smarter flexible network".
SPEN have received £8.01 million funding from OFGEM's "Innovation Roll-out Mechanism’s (IRM)" for the above strategy. This is a 25 page report but is worth reading. Two points to highlight are:
(1) 2.31. We note that the carbon benefit of the roll-out is largely dependent on new distributed generation connecting under the scheme. SPEN’s analysis assumes that only distributed generation that will be constrained by less than 5% of its generation potential under the ANM scheme will connect i.e. 68MW of 200MW contracted for connection in the area. We think the assumption on the amount of distributed generation connecting under the scheme is reasonable. Therefore, we are satisfied that the roll out of the scheme is likely to deliver carbon benefits.
(2) 2.9. In 2016 the System Operator (SO) and SP Transmission assessed several transmission level options for addressing the transmission constraint in Dumfries and Galloway. SP Transmission is currently developing the most economic solution– an upgrade of a single 132kV circuit between Kendoon and Tongland with a double circuit – to be in service in 2024. The transmission project will add capacity in Dumfries and Galloway, which will relieve transmission constraints for a few years. However, the SO’s assessment of the transmission solution anticipates that transmission constraints will re-occur by 2028 and constraint management, and non-build commercial solutions will be required.
We contacted OFGEM and they said "contracted to connect” means projects that have an in-principle agreement with the Distribution Network Operators (SPEN in this case) to connect to their network. So it will be a combination of projects at different stages of development. This obviously puts an element of risk as some projects can be rejected by planners or the developers can run into financial difficulties. We accommodated this in our cost benefit analysis by assuming that only 68MW out of this 200MW “contracted to connect” will eventually connect and export.I am unable to give you project by project detail at the moment, but it is worth noting that as part of the reporting requirements linked to our IRM funding decision, SPEN will report the actual MW that connects under the Integrated Network Management Project in Dumfries & Galloway. The first such report is due in June 2020".
Who is aware of this project for Dumfries and Galloway? Trust and transparency? None whatsoever!
The plan is to increase electricity generation for 90MW to 290MW. How much of this extra generation is coming from wind farms already erected and not producing and how much will come from new wind farms? There plan will create uncertainty in the housing market, it will affect tourism and jobs and it may hinder the chances of Dumfries and Galloway becoming a National Park.
Whatever the answer is we, the people who live and work in Dumfries and Galloway, need to know. We need SPEN to adhere to their "values" and show us respect through transparency and social responsibility. This is not just an issue for the people affected by the KTR Project but an issue for everyone.
We wrote to SPEN and asked them to explain the Integrated Network Management Project in more detail. This was SPEN's response.
We then wrote to SPEN:
Drax (the “Group” or “Drax Group”) is pleased to announce that it has agreed to acquire Scottish Power’s portfolio of pumped storage, hydro and gas-fired generation (the “Portfolio”) for £702 million in cash (the “Acquisition”) from Iberdrola, subject to Drax shareholder approval. Click here
