• LEADERSHIP. The score reflects ACCIONA Energía’s position as the largest 100% clean energy company in the world, and its “stronger-than-peers environmental and social performance”
• ZERO CARBON GROWTH. S&P Global Ratings notes ACCIONA Energía’s forthcoming IPO will support its approach to capitalizing on decarbonization opportunities linked to the global energy transition

ACCIONA Energía has received the global power industry’s top environmental, social and governance (ESG) score in a cross-sector evaluation by S&P Global Ratings. ACCIONA Energía, with its exclusive focus on renewable energy, scored 86 out of 100 points in its ESG evaluation, making it an industry leader as well as the fifth-ranked company across all sectors worldwide.

S&P Global Ratings’ ESG evaluation is a comprehensive assessment of a company’s preparedness to meet future risks and opportunities linked to ESG factors, such as climate change, regulatory risk and reputational issues. ACCIONA Energía’s top ESG score in the power industry reflects its position as the largest 100% clean energy company in the world, with a successful track record in innovations and research collaborations in green technologies that position the company “at the forefront of the low-carbon transition”, S&P Global Ratings said.

S&P Global Ratings said: “Acciona Energía’s ESG evaluation of 86 [out of 100] primarily reflects its stronger-than-peers environmental and social performance, as well as our view that it is well-equipped to execute its long-term strategy and capitalize on opportunities stemming from the low-carbon economy.”

ACCIONA Energía, which owns 11GW in 16 countries across five continents, has announced plans to increase its installed capacity of wind and solar energy to 20GW by 2025, benefitting from its moderated leverage and reduced financing costs.

S&P Global Ratings has conducted ESG evaluations on more than 70 companies across 21 sectors worldwide. A high score indicates that a company is well positioned to capitalize on ESG-related growth opportunities, and well prepared to deal with ESG risks.

In addition to S&P Global Ratings’ top ESG industry score, ACCIONA Energía has since 2015 led the rankings of the “Top 100 Green Utilities” compiled by Energy Intelligence, a US consulting firm that rates hundreds of power companies according to their carbon intensity and installed renewable energy capacity.

LEADERSHIP
S&P Global Ratings evaluated ACCIONA Energía’s performance across numerous environmental, social and governance metrics, as well as its preparedness to seize zero-carbon growth opportunities and mitigate ESG risks.

S&P Global Ratings said ACCIONA Energía “stood out among peers” for being carbon neutral since 2016, for its comprehensive biodiversity policy, for following circular economy principles including the reuse of water resources, and for applying an internal carbon price to reduce emissions along the value chain. S&P also praised the company for being on track to meet “ambitious science-based targets” on carbon emissions.

ACCIONA Energía aims to reduce its scope 1 and 2 emissions by 60% by 2030, and its scope 3 emissions by 47% by the same date. Scope 1 covers direct emissions from a company’s activities; scope 2 measures indirect emissions from the purchase of electricity, steam, heating and cooling, while scope 3 measures the indirect emissions of a company’s value chain, business travel and other activities.

S&P Global Ratings also assessed ACCIONA Energía’s performance on social metrics, noting its comprehensive policies and strategies for a gender-balanced workforce, fair remuneration schemes and community engagement.

The rating agency judged the company to have a “lower workforce risk” than its peers because it does not face the challenges associated with reskilling staff, which affect power generators with carbon-intensive assets. It also noted that ACCIONA Energía was in a “better position to attract new talent of all ages,” placing it at a competitive advantage in the power sector.

The company was also positively valued for its flawless customer satisfaction track-record of 99%, thanks to the reliability of its generation assets and strong focus on innovation and sustainable technological solutions, such as the use of blockchain technology to trace the renewable origin of electricity supplied to customers.

S&P Global Ratings also positively valued ACCIONA Energía’s newly created board of directors, effective upon the admission to trading of its shares on the Spanish stock exchanges, for its diversity in terms of “gender, background and skills” and for the “robust values framework” it inherits from parent company Acciona S.A. Women will make up 45% of Acciona Energía’s board of directors, well above Spain’s average of 23%. Members of the board come from Acciona Energía’s main markets: Spain, Mexico and the United States.