en.Wedoany.com Reported - Spanish electric utility Iberdrola recently held a 125th anniversary celebration in Bilbao, with tens of thousands of citizens attending a music festival at Doña Casilda Park. That evening, 1,500 drones illuminated the night sky with a theme centered on the company's development history, marking the largest drone show ever held in Spain.

Iberdrola's connection with the Basque Country dates back to 1901, when a group of Basque entrepreneurs in Bilbao founded the company with the aim of bringing light and progress to the city. Today, the company has grown into a global electricity group operating in dozens of countries, supplying power to over 100 million people, with its headquarters still in Bilbao. By market capitalization, Iberdrola is one of the two largest electric utilities in the world, with a market value exceeding €140 billion.

The company's economic contribution to the Basque Country is significant. Over the past five years, Iberdrola has purchased more than €8.4 billion in goods and services from Basque suppliers, supported over 30,000 jobs in the region, and contributed more than €4 billion to Basque public finances. More than 60,000 Basque households are company shareholders, receiving total dividends exceeding €2 billion over the past five years. The company introduced the concept of "social dividend" a decade ago and has continued to measure it.

Facing an economic transformation centered on electrification, Iberdrola has established the Global Smart Grids Innovation Hub in Bilbao as an international benchmark for smart grid innovation. The company plans to invest €43 billion over the next three years, primarily in transmission and distribution network construction, with the Basque Country continuing to play a central role in this process.