The Diplomat
The European Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson, visited yesterday the facilities of the Red Eléctrica Group in Tres Cantos (Madrid) to learn about its innovation ecosystem.
Kadri Simson was accompanied by the company’s president, Beatriz Corredor; and the CEO, Roberto García Merino, as well as Silvia Bruno, the director of the Group’s technology platform, Elewit. This subsidiary was created in 2019 to catalyse and energise the corporation’s innovation in order to help it in its strategic mission of driving the green transition and expanding universal and inclusive connectivity.
The EU Energy Commissioner underlined the strategic role of innovation: “Now that we are gradually leaving the pandemic behind us, I look forward to being more present in EU countries, as experience on the ground is essential for the definition of our policies. That is why my visit today to Red Eléctrica, and its innovation platform Elewit, is very important. The energy transition is a challenge, but it also represents opportunities for EU companies and to promote Europe’s leadership in clean and sustainable technologies”.
For her part, Beatriz Corredor pointed out that “the challenges posed by the green and digital transformation require a strong commitment to innovation as a fundamental element for achieving the European Union’s energy and climate objectives, including reducing emissions by at least 55% by 2030 and, ultimately, achieving climate neutrality by 2050”, and concluded by assuring that “there will be no energy transition without innovation”.
During the meeting, Kadri Simson learned first-hand about some of the innovation initiatives promoted by Red Eléctrica together with leading technology companies in Spain, which presented their initiatives, such as Zeleros from Valencia, Hesstec from Seville and Nearby Computing from Barcelona.
The Commissioner also visited CECORE, Red Eléctrica de España’s back-up electricity control centre for the operation of the electricity system, which is a replica of CECOEL, the control centre that the company has at its headquarters in Alcobendas.
Both centres are pioneers in the world and their activity is essential to guarantee supply in Spain and make the ecological transition possible. In 2021, the national electricity system operator enabled the integration of renewable energies into the mix of more than 46.7%, according to the company.
