With Iberdrola as an anchor in Bilbao, an ecosystem of companies large and small has emerged around it that is driving the energy transition.
“For many years, and I can go back a century, companies in the energy sector have found in our territory a very demanding, sophisticated and growing market,” says José Ignacio Hormaeche, General Manager of the Basque Energy Cluster.
A non-profit organisation, the Cluster comprises around 180 businesses and agencies, public and private, from across the sector that are bringing a unique level of innovation and competitiveness to the dominant topic of today – global decarbonisation with at its heart the transformation of the energy system.
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With Iberdrola one of the first electricity companies to emerge in Spain, as the company has grown it has provided employment – in some cases for generations of the same families – and business with around it the growing ecosystem of companies creating what Hormaeche, speaking during Enlit on the Road – Bilbao , calls “fierce competition” in such a small territory.
Agustin Delgado, Iberdrola’s Chief Innovation and Sustainability Officer, says his experience is that where there is a manufacturing capability, other things around it flow, the R&D – technical centres, universities, start-ups – to support it as well as the customers.
“We have taken them to other parts of the world so they are very international companies,” said Delgado.
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Galder Vizcaya, Product Manager Metering and LV Products at Bilbao headquartered ZIV, agrees, attributing the uniqueness of the region to the presence of all the stakeholders in the market as well as a supportive government.
For its part, the Basque government has promoted the concept of a public-private partnership.
“The energy sector is bringing new opportunities to create start-ups and to generate new kinds of jobs, but also to improve the quality of life of the citizens,” says Xabier Otxandiano, Counsellor for Economic Development, Trade and Employment in the city of Bilbao.
“We have partners not only in the public sector but there is the Basque Energy Cluster and a big corporate in Iberdrola so for us bringing this public-private partnership is very relevant.”
As an example of the innovation that has emerged, Nicolás Arcauz, Global Digitalisation Manager at Iberdrola Networks, cites the development of a new telecommunication solution for smart metering.
“We couldn’t have done that without the help of some companies, large and small, based in the surroundings.”
Noemí Alonso from Iberdrola also highlights the importance of talent development in the region. As the director of the Global Smart Grids Innovation Hub, she sees it as her responsibility to make students and young professionals aware of the huge potential of the energy sector.
Looking ahead, Manuel Muñoz, Managing Director of Basque company Lumiker Aplicaciones Tecnológicas, says that the region has all the ingredients from technological and supply chain perspectives and also from the government, which is incentivising the development of hydrogen as a new technology.
“I think the Basque region is going to have a very good position because it contains all the elements required to have a local hydrogen economy.”
