Ross Tieman profiles the man with Europe’s brightest vision for renewable energy 
José Manuel Entrecanales Domecq isn’t exactly on a one-man mission to save the planet. By his reckoning, we need another 99 power company bosses with a commitment to renewable energy to stem power generation’s contribution to climate change. For on its current business plan, Entrecanales’ Spanish construction-to-wineries conglomerate, Acciona, aims to reduce the world’s CO2 emissions by 220 million tonnes in the next 23 years. That is fully 1% of the 18.4 billion tonnes needed from the world’s power production industry by the 2030 deadline set by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. That’s big talk from the third-generation scion of a Spanish industrial family that made its multibillion-euro fortune building the roads on which Spaniards burn their share of the world’s oil (Entrecanales intends to stem that, too – he’s built plants to turn wine lakes and rapeseed into car fuel). The 43-year-old Spanish industrial baron has blasted onto the world energy stage like a tornado. It’s only been three years since he succeeded his father, José Maria, at the helm of the Madrid-quoted, family-controlled business – and in autumn 2006, he waded into Spain’s biggest and longest takeover battle by spending €7.69bn of mainly borrowed money to buy 21% of his country’s biggest power generator, Endesa. Endesa had been fighting off takeover bids since September 2005, and E.ON of Germany looked to be gaining the upper hand despite the Spanish government’s aversion to a foreign takeover.  The saga took a fresh turn on the final day of February this year, when Italy’s Enel, apparently with the blessing of Spanish officials, grabbed 10% of Endesa in a €4.1bn off-market raid. Paying €39 a share, above the €38.75 offered by E.ON’s revised €41bn bid, Enel looked to have stalemated the German takeover. Like Acciona, the Italian power company said it was prepared to buy up to 24.99% of Endesa, the level beyond which each would be obliged to bid.
So what’s the endgame? Entrecanales found himself with a new fellow shareholder with whom he may well be able to reach an understanding, because Enel’s action supports his own goal of retaining Endesa’s independence. In a presentation earlier this year, Acciona set out ways in which it and Endesa could together become the world’s biggest renewable energy business. “Acciona continues to evaluate different strategic options for Endesa, including the realisation of potential synergies through the possible integration or combination of Acciona’s and Endesa’s know-how, businesses or assets in the renewable/clean energy sector,” said Juan Muro-Lara, corporate development director. That could mean putting together Endesa’s 1,800 MW of wind turbines, and maybe its hydro plants too, with Acciona’s 3,173 MW of turbines. With or without Endesa’s collaboration, Entrecanales aims to overtake Iberdrola, a Spanish generator that is the world’s top dog in wind power, by 2009, when he plans to have 7,828 MW of installed capacity on Acciona’s books. Add Endesa’s business and Acciona’s turbo-charged management, and the total could reach 14,000 MW, Acciona says. Air is not the only power source in Entrecanales’ renewable arsenal, however. He plans to triple generation from biomass plants to 93 MW by 2009, and build an astonishing 385 MW of solar power plants around the world. |