As part of the reverse mission to the Basque Country by the Korea Smart Grid Institute (KSGI) promoted by Basque Trade & Investment (BT&I), the Basque Energy Cluster collaborated in the organisation of a visit to the Tecnalia facilities (Zamudio Technology Park).

The meeting was held on 17 July and featured presentations by Tecnalia, who outlined their technological capabilities in the energy sector, and by the Korea Smart Grid Institute, a Korean organisation dedicated to promoting the smart grid industry, who showcased their activity and their efforts to drive innovation in the energy sector.

This was followed by a pitch session by Basque entities, in which representatives from Barbara, BCARE/ CIC EnergiGUNE, Cidetec, Pronutec, R2M Solution, SoC-e, Tecnalia and Uriarte Safybox described their initiatives and their offer of smart grid solutions, their experience and their plans for prospecting the Korean market.

After the presentations, participants enjoyed a networking space with coffee and the chance to share their impressions and build relationships.

Finally, members of the KSGI visited Tecnalia's Microgrid, CT Demo, Cyber Lab, Digital Lab and InGRID laboratories, where researchers from the centre showed them the many projects the company is working on for the modelling and testing, digitisation, safety, standardisation, control systems, etc. of electrical components and equipment.

The conference provided Korean attendees and Basque entities with a chance to make contact and forge alliances, increasing their knowledge of each other and identifying synergies and opportunities for collaboration. The next steps will be to follow up on the meeting, in the hope that it will lead to the development of concrete R&D projects in the medium term between the Basque Country and South Korea.