Spanish utility Iberdrola has announced the closure of its acquisition of 88% of Electricity North West (ENW), making the UK its primary market in terms of network asset base value.
The deal values ENW at about €5 billion (£4.1 billion), bringing Iberdrola’s regulated asset value in the UK to £11.6 billion. ENW’s network covers an area between two existing ScottishPower Networks—the other UK network Iberdrola owns—license areas.
The company will now distribute electricity to about 12 million people in the UK, employing over 8,500 people.
That makes Iberdrola the second-largest distribution network operator (DNO) in the UK, after National Grid Electricity Distribution (NGED). Iberdrola and a consortium of investors from Japan, led by Kansai, which will retain 12% of ENW’s capital, have signed a shareholders’ agreement to collaborate on a long-term basis.
When the acquisition was first announced in August, Ignacio Galán, Iberdrola’s executive chairman, said the investment was consistent with Iberdrola’s stated commitment to investing in countries that have ambitious investment plans and stable and predictable regulations—such as the UK’s AA credit rating.
The UK has been a major investment destination for Iberdrola since it merged with ScottishPower in 2007 as part of the Spanish utility’s long-term strategy to become a world leader in the global energy market.
Galán announced the company’s plans to double its investment in the UK just before the International Investment Summit, dedicating £24 billion to networks and renewables between 2024 and 2028. Two-thirds of the total will go to the distribution and transmission networks, including the new Eastern Green Link 1 subsea interconnection.
Transmission investments are set to increase under the regulatory framework from 2026 to 2031, known as RIIO-T3, which offers network companies incentives for innovation and securing investment, so they can develop sustainable energy networks at the lowest cost.
According to the utility, ScottishPower is the only 100% green integrated network in the UK. To support its offshore wind development in East Anglia, ScottishPower Renewables, the green energy branch of ScottishPower, acquired a new site at Lowestoft’s Power Park for about £8 million.
Iberdrola’s investments include £4 billion in its East Anglia 2 wind power plant, which won a Contract for Difference (CfD) in this year’s allocation round (AR6). As part of its growth plans, Iberdrola is also currently constructing the 1,400MW East Anglia 3 offshore wind farm, due to be commissioned towards the end of 2026. Technology and e-commerce giant Amazon has already signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) to procure 159MW of the energy generated by the power plant.