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The company reaffirms its leadership for the second year and increases its score from 86 to 87 out of 100
ACCIONA Energía has received the global power industry’s top environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) score in a cross-sector evaluation by S&P Global Ratings for the second year in a row. The company has increased its score from 86 to 87 out of 100, and it maintains its position as an industry leader.
S&P Global Ratings’ ESG Evaluation is an in-depth, forward-looking 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. S&P Global Ratings said that ACCIONA Energía’s ESG score is the result of its successful track record in innovation and research collaboration in green technologies that position the company “at the forefront of the low-carbon transition”.
According to S&P Global Ratings, the ESG evaluation of 87 out of 100 reflects ACCIONA Energía’s position as the largest 100% clean energy company in the world, its stronger-than-peers environmental and social performance, as well as its preparedness to execute its long-term strategy and capitalize on opportunities stemming from the low-carbon economy.
S&P Global Ratings highlights the consistency of ACCIONA Energía’s commitment to fight climate change, which begins with the decarbonization of its customers’ electricity supply, extends to its own operations, and, also, encompasses emission reductions in its supply chain, being on track to achieve its scope 3 reduction target of 47% by 2030.
The ratings agency also emphasizes the company’s comprehensive biodiversity protection policy, its circular economy principles such as its goals of using no virgin materials and lengthening the average life of its wind assets, its land and water resources management, and its internal carbon price application to reduce emissions along the value chain. Within the environmental profile evaluation, S&P also praised the company for “applying life cycle analysis to 100% of its projects in the engineering phase”.
S&P Global Ratings assessed ACCIONA Energía’s social performance, noting that the company “stands out from its power generation peers, which can be exposed to aging workforce risk, in that it attracts talent of all ages”, and it has moderately higher gender diversity (28% versus a sector median of 23%).
The ratings agency also highlighted the company’s engagement with local communities and support to community development, in line with advanced industry practices. ACCIONA Energía was also cherished 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.
GOVERNANCE PROFILE
Regarding the governance profile, S&P positively valued ACCIONA Energía’s board of directors for being very diverse in terms of “gender, background, and skills” and for “providing continuity with parent ACCIONA S.A.”. It was highlighted that women make up 45% of directors in the company, well above Spain’s average of 25% and above the Spanish corporate governance recommendations of 40% for 2022 for listed companies. The “robust values framework” of ACCIONA Energía’s policy book and its “comprehensive financial and nonfinancial disclosures” were also stressed.
Concerning the company’s preparedness for future ESG risks and opportunities, S&P Global Ratings remarked ACCIONA Energía’s diversified asset portfolio in Europe, the Americas, and Australia, which makes it more resilient, and it appointed that the utility “demonstrates excellent awareness of potential future disruptions and takes a proactive approach to capitalizing on low carbon growth opportunities”.
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.