Spanish utility company Iberdrola is launching an Irish retail business this week, it was announced on Tuesday.

Iberdrola plans to invest more than €100m in renewable energy and storage projects in Ireland and Northern Ireland by 2025, Reuters reports.

The initiative is part of an objective set out by the company to invest some €34bn on renewables and energy network systems, as well as expansion in retail markets throughout Europe, to 2022.

Colin McNeill, CEO retail Iberdrola Ireland and Iberdrola’s UK arm ScottishPower said in an interview: “We have had renewable generation in Ireland for over 20 years so moving into retail is a logical step.”

The Iberdrola Ireland arm of the business is set to create around 150 jobs over the coming six months, McNeill added.

Darragh Cassidy from comparison site, bonkers .ie said the move is good news for Irish consumers: “Increased competition should mean more choice and lower prices, which can only be good news for hard-pressed energy customers in Ireland who have seen their bills increase hugely over the past two years and who pay among the highest prices for electricity in Europe.

“Iberdrola’s launch of a fixed tariff is also welcome given how volatile energy prices have been in recent times. Fixed tariffs are extremely common in other markets like the UK but suppliers in Ireland have been slow to offer them to customers here.”

Iberdrola will be competing with other firms including SSE’s Airtricity and Centrica’s Bord Gais Energy and is planning to appeal to customers by offering competitive prices and 100% renewable electricity as standard.

To start with, only electricity will be offered, however McNeill stated that natural gas will be offered from October.

As it stands, Iberdrola has six small onshore wind farms in Ireland. A portion of the planned investment will go towards the replacement of older wind turbines with newer, more efficient ones, which could increase capacity.

In addition, Iberdrola will look into joining forces with existing renewable operators and consider building new projects.

“We will also look at opportunities to build batteries at the sites,” McNeill went on to say.

Last week, Iberdrola announced plans to construct a 50-megawatt battery at the UK’s largest onshore wind farm, ScottishPower Whitelee in Scotland.

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