Iberdrola S A : acquires a stake in CO2 Revolution to redouble its commitment to renewables and biodiversity

INFORMATIVE NOTE

30 August 2021

Through its PERSEO International Startups Programme, it is investing in the Navarre-based company, a pioneer in reforestation using drones and smart seeds

Iberdrola acquires a stake in CO2 Revolution to redouble its commitment to renewables and biodiversity

• Its efficiency allows reforestation up to 100 times faster than with traditional means and to sow up to 100,000 seeds of indigenous trees and companion species in a single day
• Iberdrola's Tree Programme plans to plant 20 million trees by 2030 and up to 2.5 million by 2022
• With a provision of 125 million euros, PERSEO has invested 85 million euros in start- ups and is involved in a portfolio of nine companies

Iberdrola has taken another step forward in its strategy of combining the development of emission- free renewable energy projects with the preservation of biodiversity by acquiring a stake in CO2 Revolution, a Navarre-based company that is a benchmark in reforestation using drones and smart seeds. The operation has been carried out through its PERSEO International Startups Programme,which has been identifying and promoting future technologies in the energy sector for more than a decade.

Iberdrola's participation in CO2 Revolution will boost collaboration between the two companies, which are already developing joint projects to preserve ecosystems in areas and regions where Iberdrola operates.

With the technology developed by this company, it is also possible to repopulate up to 100 times faster than with traditional means and plant up to 100,000 tree seeds in a single day at a low cost. In fact, so far this year, it has reforested 1,000 hectares of land and prevented the emission of 150,000 tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere.

Iberdrola's Director of Innovation and Sustainability, Agustín Delgado, highlights the reasons for PERSEO's investment in CO2 Revolution "the innovative approach with which they combine the use of drones and big data, effectively orienting their work towards improving biodiversity; one of the areas that presents the greatest challenges in the development of an energy production model based on renewables. Its actions also favour the local economy, through collaboration with local suppliers, as well as inclusion, through agreements with organisations".

Iberdrola is developing an ambitious reforestation strategy with its Tree Programme, which plans to plant 8 million trees by 2025 and up to 20 million by 2030. CO2 Revolution will contribute to this goal with its revolutionary reforestation system, based on selective planting with drones and smart seeds. These plantations will always be carried out with native species - not just trees - including shrubs and grasses that contribute to the preservation of full ecosystems.

In 2020, the company has already promoted the planting of 768,000 trees, therefore advancing towards its short-term goal of replanting 2.5 million trees by 2022. It is estimated that the 20 million trees planted by the company by 2030 will capture approximately 6 million tonnes of CO2 over 30 years.

INFORMATIVE NOTE

30 August 2021

For Juan Carlos Sesma, CEO of CO2 Revolution, the incorporation of Iberdrola as a partner is a national milestone as, on the one hand, it further boosts CO2 Revolution's ongoing commitment to R&D and, on the other, it demonstrates the real climate ambition of one of the largest and most important companies in our country, an engine of the Spanish economy that will place Spain at the forefront of the true Ecological Transition by leading the EU's European Green Pact. The joint objective is to make CO2 Revolution a world leader in forest biotechnology applied to reforestation, the fight against climate change and the carbon bonds market.

Iberdrola-PERSEO international startup programme

Iberdrola has redoubled its efforts to promote biodiversity and the preservation of healthy ecosystems as key elements for sustainable growth. This has led the group - an international leader in the fight against climate change and a world leader in renewable energies - to set itself the goal of achieving zero net loss of biodiversity by 2030, committing, whenever possible, to a positive net impact in new infrastructure developments.

This line of action has been reinforced by Iberdrola's PERSEO International Startups Programme, which aims to facilitate the group's access to the technologies of the future and foster the creation and development of a global and dynamic ecosystem of technology companies and entrepreneurs in the electricity sector.

With a total budget of 125 million euros, the programme has invested 85 million euros in startups in just over a decade, focusing on those that can improve the sustainability of the energy sector through greater electrification and decarbonisation of the economy.

Through PERSEO, Iberdrola analyses around 300 companies each year helping it create an ecosystem of almost 3,000 entrepreneurial companies. This investment vehicle is currently involved in a portfolio of nine companies, including the recent acquisition in CO2 Revolution.

About Iberdrola

Iberdrolais a leading global energy supplier -the third largest by market capitalisation in the world and the leader in renewables- championing the energy transition towards a low-emissions economy. The group supplies energy to around 100 million people in dozens of countries and has renewable, grid and commercial activities in Europe (Spain, the UK, Portugal, France, Germany, Italy and Greece), the US, Brazil, Mexico and Australia, and is growing in markets including Japan, Ireland, Sweden and Poland, among others, as growth platforms. With a workforce of more than 37,000 and assets of over €122.5 billion, it recorded turnover in excess of €33 billion and net profit slightly exceeding €3.6 billion in 2020. The company contributes to the maintenance of 400,000 jobs in its supply chain, with an annual procurement budget of €14 billion. A leader in the fight against climate change, Iberdrola has committed more than €120 billion over the last two decades to building a sustainable energy model based on sound environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles.

About CO2 Revolution

Qualified as one of the 100 best start-ups in the world by South Summit 2018, CO2 Revolutionprovides its services both to communities and organisations that need to carry out planting activities and to institutions that want to offset their carbon footprint. In both cases, they are officially certified (by the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge) and have their own certification. To this end, the company combines its experience in process optimisation and Big Data with an innovative "iseed" smart seed which, thanks to the fact that it is pre-germinated, when launched from drones achieves something previously unthinkable: reforesting large tracts of land in hours and at a low cost. An integral model that also allows the growth of the ecosystem to be monitored.