Team size: Three

Jurisdictions your role covers: Portugal and Spain

What are the most significant cases or transactions that your legal team has recently been involved in?

In January 2024, I led the Portuguese in-house team as part of the legal strategy of a major international transaction through which a foreign investor signed a binding agreement with Iberdrola to acquire a 49 percent interest in one of the company’s biggest wind portfolios. The transaction was structured as a joint venture through a SPV, with three Iberdrola companies as sponsors/developers. The transaction entailed negotiation of JV agreements, purchase contracts and O&M arrangements in line with local law and market practice, under which Iberdrola retains co-ownership, operational control, and governance primacy while unlocking sovereign-wealth capital at scale.

Additionally, between 2024 and 2026, I led the in-house legal team advising Iberdrola on the development of the Tâmega Wind Farms—comprising the Tâmega Norte and Tâmega Sul wind farms—Portugal’s largest onshore wind project and the country’s first hybridisation of wind and hydroelectric energy. With a combined installed capacity of 274 MW, 38 turbines, an estimated annual output of 601 GWh, and a total investment of approximately €350mn, the project represents one of the most significant renewable energy initiatives in the Iberian Peninsula. My team’s work centered on the complex legal architecture underpinning the development: securing and structuring the land rights necessary for turbine siting and evacuation infrastructure; negotiating turbine supply, operations and maintenance, construction, and EPC agreements; and guiding the project through Portugal’s multi-stage licensing process before the Directorate-General for Energy and Geology (DGEG), culminating in the grant of all required production and environmental licenses. We also supported the regulatory framework enabling the hybrid grid connection to the existing Tâmega Electroproduction System substation, a pioneering arrangement that allows wind and hydroelectric generation to share evacuation infrastructure.

Lastly, Iberdrola Portugal has commenced the installation of BESS at its Alcochete I and Algeruz II solar photovoltaic plants, with a combined storage capacity of 180 MWh and 45 MW of injection power (25 MW/100 MWh and 20 MW/80 MWh, respectively). The systems are configured as hybrid installations co-located with existing solar assets and were recognized under Portugal’s “Flexibilidade e Armazenamento da Rede” program, financed through the Portuguese Recovery and Resilience Plan (Plano de Recuperação e Resiliência). I led the legal transaction from early-stage permitting through financial close, navigating the Portuguese licensing regime and managing all public law aspects of the PRR funding process, including compliance with EU state aid rules and the conditions attached to NextGenerationEU financing.

How has the role of the legal function evolved within your organisation over recent years, and where do you see it adding the most strategic value today? 

Since I joined Iberdrola in 2022, our legal team has stood at the center of some of the most consequential energy transactions on the Iberian Peninsula — from steering the Tâmega hybridisation project through its regulatory and contractual milestones, to securing environmental licensing for the 1,200 MW Fernando Pessoa solar project, Europe’s largest, to structuring power purchase agreements with global counterparties and building the legal architecture for utility-scale BESS development. Each of these achievements unfolded against a backdrop of rapid regulatory change and persistent legal uncertainty. 

None of this would have been possible had we acted as mere compliance gatekeepers. As Iberdrola’s footprint in the Portuguese renewables market expands – and the legal complexity of each transaction deepens – business decisions depend ever more on the quality and timeliness of legal counsel. To meet those expectations and match the pace of an ambitious transaction pipeline, our legal function has had to evolve into a strategic partner embedded in the architecture of corporate decision-making. 

The mandate for in-house legal teams in today’s market is clear: we can no longer operate at the periphery, validating decisions after they are made. To drive lasting value, the legal function must occupy a seat at the strategic table – anticipating risk, shaping transactions, and translating regulatory complexity into competitive advantage. That is the standard our team strives to set every day.

Which recent regulatory or legislative change in Portugal has had the most significant impact on in‑house legal teams, and how have you adapted your approach in response? 

Among the most significant recent developments in Portugal’s renewable energy legal framework is the partial transposition of the RED III Directive through Decree-Law No. 99/2024, dated 3 December 2024. This instrument partially transposes Directive (EU) 2023/2413 into Portuguese law, introducing substantial licensing reforms to the regime established under Decree-Law No. 15/2022. Key measures include mandatory maximum licensing timeframes of two years for onshore and three years for offshore renewable projects; a legal presumption of overriding public interest for the planning, construction, and operation of renewable generation and storage facilities; and the suspension of statutory deadlines during designated periods. The legislative process remains ongoing, with several public consultations and calls for contributions having been conducted with our legal teams’ participation and close monitoring. 

The regulatory changes arising from this new framework required a comprehensive adaptation of Iberdrola’s portfolio development strategy. Rather than approaching these reforms as a mere compliance exercise, we positioned our legal team as a strategic enabler of the business, identifying not only the risks associated with the new regulation but also leveraging its opportunities to ensure the company is favorably positioned within the evolving regulatory landscape.