In markets powered by the energy transition, Cobra IS posted strong growth (18% to €6.5 billion), driven by increases in flow business as well as the delivery of large turnkey projects. Its order book hit a new all-time high of €14.4 billion at year end, representing more than 24 months of average business volume.
Cobra IS generates nearly two-thirds of its business from recurring operations involving the design, operation and maintenance of all types of electrical and mechanical infrastructure.
The diverse nature of this flow business is especially apparent in Spain, where Cobra IS maintains strong relations with customers in a wide range of sectors. In 2023, its projects involved electricity distribution networks for operators REE and Endesa in several provinces; Cepsa’s green hydrogen plants in the areas of Cádiz and Huelva; gas distribution networks for Nedgia in Andalusia and Galicia and for Madrileña Red de Gas serving Greater Madrid; Telefónica’s fixed telecommunications networks and several other mobile telecommunications networks (5G rollout on the national high-speed rail network); the dismantling of the José Cabrera nuclear power plant as well as predismantling work at the As Pontes thermal power plant for Endesa and the Santa María de Garoña nuclear power plant for Enresa; the mechanical maintenance of the Acerinox Europa stainless steel plant in Cádiz. Outside of Spain, Cobra IS also provides communication infrastructure for Telefónica elsewhere in Europe (Germany, the United Kingdom and Italy) and in Latin America (Peru, Chile and Argentina).
As for other sectors, in railways, Cobra IS’s main operations in Spain were automating the Vicálvaro marshalling yard switch systems, creating a new control centre in Madrid for all station facilities and systems in the national rail network managed by Adif, and installing and bringing into service overhead lines and power substations for the high-speed trains connecting Spain’s capital to the Portuguese border. In road infrastructure and urban facilities, Cobra IS was mainly involved in maintenance of traffic management and public lighting systems for some two dozen cities, provinces or operators. In airports, its principal projects involved maintaining equipment at several hubs and switching Iberia’s ground services to electric power.
In Portugal, Cobra IS is a key player in the electrical infrastructure market, where, for example, it is helping to extend networks in the Algarve and Baixo Alentejo areas to support the growth of renewables. In the Americas, Cobra IS operates and maintains more than 10,500 km of transmission lines in Brazil, and has deployed intelligent transport systems in the United States (highway I-95, section 3B2) and Mexico (Guadalajara’s urban train system). In Asia, the company built two power substations in Pakistan and Tajikistan – where it is also helping to renovate the Kayrakkum hydroelectric plant on the Syr Darya river. In Oceania, it is deploying a complete tunnel management system for the WestConnex motorway network in Sydney, Australia.
From engineering to construction to operation and maintenance, Cobra IS carries out turnkey projects, mostly in the energy sector. In Spain, these are mainly solar photovoltaic power projects. Cobra IS completed or continued the construction of six plants (combined capacity of 266 MW) for Galp Energia and two plants (102 MW) in the province of Guadalajara for RWE. It was also awarded a contract by Repsol Renovables to build several transmission lines and a substation for two future wind farms in the province of Zaragoza. On Gran Canaria, it handles civil engineering and electromechanical equipment for the Salto de Chira pumped storage hydroelectric plant.
In Brazil, where it has installed more than 30,000 km of electric lines in the past 20 years, Cobra IS won a public private partnership (PPP) contract to create 349 km of high voltage power lines in the state of Minas Gerais, as well as two design-build contracts for a total of about 1,600 km of transmission lines, including substations, spanning three states. It is also setting up 1,083 km of transmission lines and designing and building 1,000 km of high-voltage lines in Minas Gerais under a public-private contract awarded in 2022. Added to these recent contracts are several ongoing power line projects, namely Pampa (326 km), Dunas (541 km), Verde (1,270 km), Chimarrão (1,140 km) and Mantiqueira (1,342 km) under PPPs, and Tucuruí II Marituba, Vista Alegre and Coletora Assu under design build contracts. Cobra IS also com-pleted work on the 565 MW Marlim-Azul combined cycle gas plant in the state of Rio de Janeiro and brought it into service.
