Iberdrola becomes leading wind energy generator

www.environmental-finance.com/
London, 10 April

Iberdrola has become the world's largest owner of wind power capacity, according to the latest rankings from analysis firm Emerging Energy Research (EER).

The Spanish utility's 6.9GW of wind capacity means it has comprehensively overtaken US-based FPL Energy, after adding more than 1.55GW of new wind construction last year, and acquiring 1.45GW via the acquisition of ScottishPower's wind assets in the US, UK and Ireland. FPL boasts just over 5GW of turbines,"continuing to outpace its competitors in North America", EER said, with the most new-build in the region for the fourth year in a row, adding 956MW of new capacity.

Competition for third place remains fierce, said EER, with Spain's Acciona and EDP of Portugal nearly tied at approximately 2.8GW apiece, before Acciona's stake in Spanish utility Endesa is considered.

"With viable wind M&A targets dwindling, remaining at the head of the global wind rankings requires adding at least 500MW of new wind build per year," said EER research director Joshua Magee. In Europe last year, mergers and acquisitions accounted for one-third of the 4,600MW of wind ownership growth among Europe's top-20 wind owners, EER said.

"A combination of new wind build and growing M&A activity continues to keep European wind ownership in flux, with market veterans such as EDF Energies Nouvelles building on their historical positions, while companies such as E.ON and International Power gain through acquisitions," said Magee. "In the US market, major [independent power producers] were able to activate large portions of their portfolios in 2007, leading to significant construction activity," says Magee, citing FPL Energy, Iberdrola, Horizon,EDP, and Babcock and Brown.