Iberdrola sells 25 % stake in Bilbao 785 MW combined cycle power plant

Iberdrola entered in late July into an agreement to sell its 25% stake in Bahía Bizkaia Electricidad (BBE) to BP Global Investments, owner of 50% of the company until now.

The estimated value of the transaction amounts to €111 million but the final figure will depend on possible adjustments to the price, a regular practice in this type of operations.

Closure remains subject to securing the relevant permits and third party consents. Once the sale is completed, Iberdrola will reveal the impact on its consolidated Profit & Loss Account.

BBE runs a 785-megawatt (MW) combined cycle power plant located in Bilbao’s Outer Harbour. The plant is stationed beside the Bahía Bizkaia Gas (BBG) regasification plant, in which Iberdrola also held a 25% stake, sold to RREEF Infrastructure in 2009. After its divestment in BBE, Iberdrola still operates 400 MW thermal power capacity in the Basque country, corresponding to the Santurce combined-cycle power plant.

This operation is part of Iberdrola's disinvestment plan to enhance the group's strong financial position. According to the 2014-2016 Outlook presented last February, Iberdrola plans to complete divestments in non-core assets and non-strategic countries to the value of €2.5 billion in the 2012-2016 period, of which over €2 billion have been announced thus far.

In the first semester of 2014, Iberdrola agreed to sell its 22.6% stake in the company Itapebi Geração de Energia to Termopernambuco, a firm 100% owned by Neoenergia. This operation means that Iberdrola now indirectly controls 30% of Itapebi Geração de Energia. The company has also closed a deal on the transfer of its 6.6% stake in the capital of Portuguese firm EDP - Energias de Portugal.