On March 28, the third meeting of the Generation of Opportunities forum took place, which each year brings together business leaders to discuss and share projects in the field of sustainable management with social responsibility.
The event was opened by the President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, who mentioned the “Iberian exception” in energy and stressed the need for regulatory changes to meet the “energy challenge”. The forum was also attended by the three vice presidents, Nadia Calviño, Yolanda Díaz and Teresa Ribera, among other members of the government.
Antonio Llardén, Chairman of Enagás, participated in the round table titled “Sustainable and inclusive growth,” alongside Beatriz Corredor, Chairperson of Red Eléctrica; Juan Manuel Serrano, Chairman of Correos; Armando Martínez, Chairman of Iberdrola España; and Miguel Álava, CEO of AWS. The senior executives presented the main lines of action of their respective companies in the field of sustainability.
The Enagás Chairman highlighted the change of direction in European strategy towards a common energy policy, and recalled the recently published document REPowerEU, which, for the first time, together with a green deal policy, talks about the decarbonisation challenge, security of supply and the possible harmonisation of energy prices across Europe.
He also spoke of the Iberian Peninsula as an “energy island” and the numerous physical barriers to being able to supply gas to other countries, unlike the rest of Europe, which will require extending electricity and gas interconnections, which “are few”. Decarbonisation and renewables can help this process, but “gas will continue to be an important support in the transition process,” he said.
The Enagás Chairman also pointed out that Spain has a set of infrastructure that allows interconnection with France, Portugal, Morocco and Algeria, and has up to eight regasification plants that can receive liquefied natural gas from anywhere in the world, as well as infrastructure used for storage and transmission.
When asked about how public-private collaboration can help innovation and the implementation of new technologies, Llardén explained that “Enagás’ digitalisation process, with which we manage our infrastructure, is carried out with artificial intelligence techniques that allow us to have real-time information and ensure supply”.
In conclusion, he stated that in the current context, collaboration and solidarity between countries is more necessary than ever for energy security, decarbonisation and the pursuit of sustainable growth.
