‘’Electricity for all’’

#SDGAction42831

Description

Intro

The "Electricity for all" Program is Iberdrola's response to the call made by the international community to extend universal access to modern forms of energy, with environmentally sustainable, economically acceptable and socially inclusive models. Its purpose is to ensure access to electricity in emerging and developing countries. 
 
Since the launch of the "Electricity for all" program in January 2014 to December 2018, 5,400,000 people have benefited from access to electricity through projects carried out, reaching in advance the goal set for 2020 of 4M beneficiaries. A new goal has been set, reaching 16M of beneficiaries to 2030.

Objective of the practice

This ambitious initiative is focused on carrying out sustainable electrification actions, for which we take advantage of our technical, logistical, organizational and financial capacity. 
"Electricity for all" has three lines of action: 
 
1. Financing of projects through investment in capital. Throughout the aforementioned period (2014 - 2018), Iberdrola has made two investments ("Impact investment" through Iberdrola Ventures - PERSEO, its venture capital vehicle, in companies focused on SDG 7): 
• Sunfunder: Investment of $ 500,000 in a Fund for the realization of projects and $ 250,000 in the form of a convertible loan. The company doubled its value and the convertible loan was transformed into equity (1.7% stake in the company). Sunfunder has developed a financing platform that allows financial and corporate investors the opportunity to participate in a diversified "impact" portfolio, financing off-grid solar projects in emerging countries in Africa and Asia. 
• Iluméxico: Investment of € 500,000 in this Mexican company to develop solar projects in disadvantaged areas. This investment will help to facilitate access to electricity for more than 250,000 people. 
2. Activities carried out by businesses in countries where Iberdrola is present, with Brazil and Mexico as priorities. 
3. Development of projects with a high social component (through collaborations with NGOs and corporate volunteer actions). 
 
From the Iberdrola group we have embraced the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals, which have been approved by the UN in September 2015, as part of our business strategy and our Corporate Governance System. 
 
In line with our activity, the Iberdrola group is focusing its efforts on supplying affordable and clean energy (goal 7) and fighting against climate change (goal 13). It has created a specific long-term incentive plan to achieve this. In addition, the group makes a direct contribution to guarantee clean water and sanitation (goal 6), has increased its investment in R&D activities (goal 9), promotes the respect to life on land (goal 15) and works to establish partnerships for the goals (goal 17). The company also makes an indirect contribution to all other Sustainable Development Goals and has launched the first credit line with a sustainable indicator to achieve them. The group's contribution to social and economic development of the communities in which it operates and to protect the environment is articulated through its sustainable energy business model. 
 
The main objectives of this program are: 
• Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and clean energy for all. 
• Substantially increase the percentage of renewable energy in the mix. 
• Double the improvement rate of energy efficiency worldwide.

Partners

Alliances arise from the need to attract and combine resources, to address issues that a single organization would not be able. Investment required by alliances is not only financial, also development of new institutional agreements, pedagogy, cultures adaptation , language and perspective... These investments offer high return in medium and long term. For these reasons, the creation of SDG Chair arises, as a perfect environment of harmony, combination of knowledge and dedication of academic world, experts of the Center for Innovation in Technologies for Human Development (itdUPM), with resources and magnitude of management and scope of large organizations as Iberdrola.

Implementation of the Project/Activity

“Electicity for all” program started in January 2014. Although most of the beneficiaries are in Brazil, this program is aimed at all remote communities, Mexico and Brazil account for a large part of them for the activity we develop in these countries, but does not rule out the valuation and investment in other countries.

The group, through its Foundation and its engineering subsidiary, collaborated with the NGO Energía Sin Fronteras in the construction and commissioning of a solar plant in the Kenyan village of Nyumbani, to provide electricity to 1,000 children (whose parents died from HIV).

Also of note is the Benin project, where an infrastructure for the electrical supply of an educational-health complex promoted by the Foundation for the Development of Benin (Fundebe) has been designed, moved and installed.
After these projects, Iberdrola group worked in the other projects explained before, such as investments in high impact companies, as Sunfunder and Ilumexico. Iberdrola worked also in the development of Brazil new supplies, within a program with the aim of electrifying rural, isolated and economically disadvantaged areas.

In 2014, Iberdrola and the Centre for Innovation in Technologies for Human Development, of the Polytechnic University of Madrid (itd UPM) created a Chair focused in universal access to energy. This Chair became a strategic tool used to address the challenges of the international sustainability agenda in general and the goal 7.1 in particular. Later, in 2016, it was renamed as SDG Chair, which, in addition to SDG 7, would be focused on the 2030 Agenda as a global objective. This Chair aims to constitute a space for learning and combining skills in an intelligent way, and thus offer quality services accessible to the most vulnerable populations.

One of the most relevant action carried out since the Chair has been created was the ‘‘Shire Alliance’’. In line with the SDG 17, Iberdrola founded this partnership in 2014, the first public-private alliance to bring electricity to refugee camps, which has been recognized as a best practice with several awards. During 2017, the ‘’Shire Alliance’’ phase II has been prepared, to scale out the first pilot phase, and in July 2018 it was held the kick off meeting in Shire (Etiopia). This second phase has a budget of over 4,5 million €.

Monitor for results is the measure of the number of beneficiaries reached, as well as monitor for return in investments.

Results/Outputs/Impacts

The company has an SDG Advisory Committee, which reviews the actions carried out and analyzes their alignment with them, including the “Electicity for All” program, in addition to proposing and promoting new challenges and actions. Iberdrola firmly believes in the innovative role of the private sector.

Results are shown in our Sustainability Scorecard: https://www.iberdrola.com/sustainability/sustainable-energy-business-mo…
The Sustainability Scorecard is a tool for evaluating the group's sustainability performance by analysing its economic, environmental and social dimensions, and is used to measure the quality of the sustainable strategy pursued. It covers the “Electricity for All” program.

Iberdrola includes in its Sustainability Report and in its Integrated Report relevant indicators to report on aspects related to the “Electricity for All” program.

Our rural electrification programs respond to the objective of extending the electrical infrastructures, to facilitate the economic and social development, and to minimize the inequalities between the different regions, and between the rural and urban areas. In 2018, the funds earmarked for rural electrification programs represented a total of 189.6 million euros in consolidated terms for the group.

Total number of beneficiaries for the “Electricity for All” program was 5,4 million in 2018. With this number, the company reached its objective for 2020, and within the framework of the Ibero-American Conference on Sustainable Development Goals held in Salamanca, Iberdrola launched an ambitious goal to 2030, giving access to electricity to 16 million people who lacked it, in emerging countries.

The Iberdrola group has also participated in the implementation of the SDG Evaluation Tool, developed by Trucost, a leader in carbon and environmental data and risk analysis, to help enable companies to identify business risks and opportunities aligned with the SDGs.

Enabling factors and constraints

Iberdrola’s Impact Investing program has enabled this practice. It is focused on the investment in projects with a high social component with two main goals:
• Employment generation and the creation of innovative companies.
• Ensure universal access to electricity.

Top Management of the company has integrated SDGs into the strategy, fact that helps to the development of the program.

Considering constraints, in the case of some populations with difficulties in accessing the network, such as indigenous in Brazil, the group provides different assistance and installation programs for isolated photovoltaic systems, and other actions to ensure universal access to the network distribution.

Sustainability and replicability

The Iberdrola group has transformed its business model to make it more sustainable, seeking a development that meets the needs of the present without compromising those of future generations. The company wants to continue leading this transformation, by offering energy products that are increasingly competitive, with the least possible environmental impact and that can ensure their customers a reliable and quality supply.

The General Policy of Sustainable Development is aligned with the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and rejecting actions that contravene or hinder them.

The economic, environmental and social performance of companies is subject to the scrutiny of a large number of specialized agencies. The analysis of these actions is reflected, very often, in the publication of indexes and specific reports on this subject. Our Sustainability performance is recognized by international Sustainability Indexes in which we are included.

In order to ensure sustainability in this project, Iberdrola is committed to:

• Implement measures to guarantee the safe and reliable supply of energy products.
• Promote the sustainable use of resources, promoting the minimization of impacts from activities of the Group, in line with the provisions of the Company's environmental policies.
• Strengthen the social dimension of the Group's activities and contribute to sustainable development through, among others measures, citizen awareness in the responsible consumption of products and service.

Iberdrola is also a pioneer in Socially Responsible Investments, it has become the largest corporate issuer of green bonds in the world, with 8 bond issues for over 6,000 million euros, which will be mainly invested in renewable energy projects.

Conclusions

This programme, improves the quality of life of people, reduces inequalities between men and women and in, among others, the significant reduction of emissions by avoiding the burning of biomass or other compounds with high CO2 content. 
 
Today, there are calculated to be around 1 billion people with no access to essential power services, which negatively influences their quality of life and opportunities for development. 
 
The objective of the group's "Electricity for all" programme for 2020 has been achieved three years in advance: 4 million of beneficiaries. By 2030, Iberdrola will bring electricity to 16 million people in emerging or developing countries who at present live without it.

Other sources of information

https://www.iberdrola.com/about-us/society/disadvantaged-groups/electri…

http://www.itd.upm.es/alianzashire/

https://www.iberdrola.com/press-room/news/detail/2030-iberdrola-will-br…

https://www.iberdrola.com/sustainability/sustainable-energy-business-mo…

https://www.iberdrola.com/sustainability/sustainable-energy-business-mo…

SDGS & Targets