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29 Sep 2020
Innovation
The event was opened by the Basque Government's Deputy Minister for Industry, Javier Zarraonandía, and Rafael Domenech, Head of Economic Analysis at BBVA Research, was a guest speaker. The situation of the sector was analysed following the COVID-19 crisis and the measures and proposals put forward by the Basque Energy Cluster to stimulate business recovery and contribute as one of the key sectors in the economic rebound of the Basque Country were presented.
The Basque Energy Cluster (ACE) held its 2020 General Assembly on September 29 online, streaming it from IDOM's headquarters in Bilbao, where its Board of Directors met beforehand.
IDOM's President Luis Rodríguez Llopis welcomed the participants and handed over to the Basque Government's Deputy Minister for Industry, Javier Zarraonandía, who opened the Assembly. The Deputy Minister mentioned the Basque Government's negative economic forecasts for 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 crisis, and underlined the importance of committing to R&D, transformative investment and internationalisation in preparation for the economic recovery expected in 2021. He thanked the Basque Energy Cluster for its efforts in this regard, and encouraged it to intensify the activity of its working groups and support sectoral roadmaps.
The companies forecast an upturn in activity by 2021 of around 5%, with better prospects for the components and systems segments in the electricity grid, wind power, utility-scale solar photovoltaic and electric mobility sectors. In this respect, Hormaeche pointed out that many public and private stakeholders are calling for a boost to investment in energy transition towards a more decarbonised and sustainable model (based on the electrification of consumption and the use of renewable energies) as one of the driving forces behind economic recovery at a global level.
He went on to explain the steps taken by ACE to support companies and gave details about the most important actions being taken by the Cluster in 2020 to speed up the recovery of the sector: strategic monitoring, contacts with customers and markets through webinars, working groups to define R&D initiatives and new business models, and participation in European projects.
The guest speaker was Rafael Domenech, Head of Economic Analysis at BBVA Research and Professor of Economics at the University of Valencia. He gave an interesting talk entitled “Economics, environmental sustainability and energy transition”. In his presentation, Mr. Domenech raised his concerns about the serious climatic and economic risks arising from the accumulation of greenhouse gases and proposed adopting coordinated public policies at a global level, with a particular focus on the implementation of a uniform global carbon tax. He stressed that innovation is crucial in the fight against climate change and considered that the current context is favourable due to low interest rates and the reconstruction funds that will be made available to promote sustainability after the pandemic.
The presentations corresponding to the 2020 Annual Assembly and Rafael Domenech's presentation are available at the following link exclusively for Basque Energy Cluster members: http://www.clusterenergia.com/presentacion-asamblea-ace-2020-y-ponencia-domenech
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