Iberdrola, SEAT and Volkswagen Group Spain Distribution (VGSD) has announced that they have strengthened their obligation to the electrification of transport with the authorization of a strategic alliance agreement to mutually encourage the positioning of sustainable mobility and e-mobility in Spain.
The alliance has been reinforced in the meeting held between Iberdrola’s President Ignacio Galán and the Volkswagen Group CEO and Chairman of SEAT’s Board of Directors, Dr. Herbert Diess.
“The agreement shows the ambition of our transport electrification strategy and confirms the need for continued collaboration between all the actors to respond to the challenges of mobility based on clean energy, without CO2 emissions, and the demands of a society committed to reducing pollution and increasing energy efficiency,” elucidated Ignacio Galán, chairman of Iberdrola, who also highlighted, “the role electrification will have in the green recovery, which will lead to economic recovery and job creation.”
A joint press statement read that the companies share the vision of the need to advance Spain’s electrification in a coordinated manner, including alliances between the main actors that are providing solutions in this field, as well as opportunities to set up an industrial, commercial and innovation ecosystem that allows the country to maintain a prominent position in the automotive industry of the future and lead the development of sustainable mobility in Europe.
The firms have also acknowledged the charging infrastructure as one of the key factors in boosting electromobility, and will, therefore, work together in their development in different areas of action. The green agreement includes the activation of cross-sectoral innovation projects and a plan to facilitate the deployment of fast and super-fast charging stations on the main corridors of the road network in Spain.
Besides, they will encourage their use at SEAT facilities and in SEAT and Volkswagen Group Spain Distribution dealerships, as well as the integration of Iberdrola’s charging infrastructure in the navigators of electric vehicles and the selling of Iberdrola electric charging solutions at SEAT dealerships. In this context, Iberdrola has just completed the installation of 140 charging stations at SEAT centres in Martorell, including spaces for both private and public use.
The CEO of the Volkswagen Group and Chairman of the Board of Directors of SEAT, Dr. Herbert Diess, indicated that “electric mobility is gaining ground, and demand for charging stations and clean electricity is on the rise. Now more than ever, there is a pressing need to establish an integral Europe-wide charging structure.
“Spain has a key role in this regard, and the Volkswagen Group wants to help to encourage electrical and emissions-free mobility in the Spanish market. Iberdrola is a strategic partner for us, particularly regarding the expansion of rapid charge points. Iberdrola is also advancing fast in terms of zero CO2 energy production and it now produces around 90 percent of its energy from renewable sources in Spain.” Diess summed up saying, “I am certain that by working together, Spanish roads will be electrified soon.”
As per the agreement, the automotive electrification strategy aims to use 100 percent renewable energy in the electric vehicle supply chain and to this end, the companies will assess energy solutions to reduce CO2 emissions in the plants and dealerships of SEAT and Volkswagen Group Spain Distribution in Spain, with the analysis of proposals in the area of self-consumption, by installing solar panels, supplying 100 percent green energy and implementing energy efficiency solutions.
