30 MAR 2022

Iberdrola promotes Bilbao as the European centre for energy transition

  • From its world centre for smart grids in Larraskitu, it is currently promoting the Enlit On the Road fair together with the Basque Energy Cluster, institutions and companies.
  • It is a forum that brings together companies, investors and consumers committed to the evolution of industry and the environment through the energy transition.
  • Work is being done to generate future opportunities for collaboration based on the strengths that the Basque Country offers in this respect.

Iberdrola is currently holding the Enlit On the Road meeting at its global smart grid centre in Bilbao. This is a forum that brings together companies, institutions, investors and consumers committed to the energy transition. In the 2022 European edition, the so-called Enlit community will meet in November in Frankfurt (Germany) to develop debates and actions to help advance the energy transition. On this occasion, and prior to the German event, Iberdrola, together with the Basque Energy Cluster and Basque institutions, has promoted two conferences to make Bilbao a possible candidate to host a future edition of Enlit Europe.

Iberdrola's Global Smart Grids Innovation Hub, recently opened in Bilbao with the collaboration of the Provincial Council of Biscay, is key to the positioning of the Biscayan capital as the headquarters of Enlit Europe. For this reason, this week, the energy company has held two conferences with representatives of the organisation together with the Basque Energy Cluster; institutions, such as the Provincial Council of Biscay and Bilbao City Council; collaborating companies and Iberdrola's Basque suppliers that endorse the candidacy so that the Biscayan capital can be a firm candidate to become the venue for this international event committed to sustainability and decarbonisation.

Javier Arriola, Director of Iberdrola's Northern Region, explained that "Bilbao offers a very privileged ecosystem in relation to the energy transition, as it has a leading driver such as Iberdrola, an important group of companies innovating in new solutions and public institutions committed to the strategic value of energy. We are working to generate value and opportunities from this situation".

Global Smart Grids Innovation Hub

The Global Smart Grids Innovation Hub, which will define the electricity grids of the future, is a hub for talent, innovation and entrepreneurship to enable the energy transition, with grids as the cornerstone.

Promoted together with the Provincial Council of Biscay, it is equipped with the latest developments in digitalisation, artificial intelligence and advanced data analytics, in which 30 companies, technology centres and universities are working on more than 120 projects worth €110 million.

The Global Smart Grids Innovation Hub is a pole of attraction for talent and promotion of new technologies that will enable the energy transition, maximising the use of renewables, fully integrating energy storage systems and optimising access to new uses of electricity, such as mobility and air conditioning.

The smart grid innovation hub is also an international collaborative project, bringing together the potential of more than 200 professionals in the development of innovation projects to be developed in countries in Europe, the Americas and the Middle East.