The Asociación Portuguesa de Parques Científicos y Tecnológicos (TECPARQUES) (Portuguese Association of Scientific and Technological Parks) and the Asociación de Parques Científicos y Tecnológicos de España (APTE) (Association of Scientific and Technological Parks of Spain) have organised the XVII Encuentro Ibérico de Parques Científicos y Tecnológicos (Iberian Meeting of Scientific and Technological Parks) in the Scientific and Technological Park Avilés Isla de la Innovación, to analyse and share experiences on sustainability and energy transition.
The Encuentro Ibérico kicked off at the Niemeyer Centre with the institutional opening by: Mariví Monteserín, Mayoress of Avilés; Nieves Roqueñí, Regional Minister for Ecological Transition, Industry and Economic Development of the Government of the Principality of Asturias; Orlando Isidoro Afonso, President of the Politécnico de Bragança; Joana Ferreira, Regional Director of Energy of the Regional Government of the Azores; Felipe Romera, President of APTE, and Hugo Coelho, President of Tecparques.
Nieves Roqueñí: “Scientific and technological parks are the key tools to face the challenges faced by Industry and Society in general.”
Felipe Romera: “Asturias is the home where APTE was born 35 years ago and now stands out for using innovation as a vector element of industrial development, to which its scientific and technological park is also contributing, since parks are the places where innovation flows.”
David Parra, from the Centro Ibérico de Investigación en Almacenamiento Energético (CIIAE) (Iberian Energy Storage Research Centre), opened the session with a presentation on research into the generation of green hydrogen. During his speech, he has highlighted two European projects they are developing, one focused on the development of new decentralised gas systems, easy to install and transport, that revalorise organic waste to generate electricity, heating and cooling, also using solid oxide hydrogen technology. The other project focuses on the use of renewable hydrogen to decarbonise the chemical industry, namely methanol and ammonia.
Next, Joana Ferreira has presented the Energy Transition Policy in the Azores Region. This is a policy with a view to the 2030 horizon that aims, among other objectives, to reduce the use of butane gas by 50%, achieve 25% energy efficiency in land transport and 70% renewable electricity, as well as a 40% reduction in greenhouse gases.
This was followed by a round table discussion on business opportunities in hydrogen and photovoltaic energy, moderated by Eduardo Baptista, CEO of Taguspark, with the participation of experts from the AGH2 association (Tecnópole), Mota-Engil Renewing and ArcelorMittal.
During the round table, the complexity of introducing hydrogen in the industry was analysed, that is why there is a lot of research to be developed in this field. Furthermore, the importance of making progress in terms of regulation and the training of professionals was also highlighted. In this sense, the members of the round table encouraged the science and technology parks to promote pilot projects that allow small companies to develop their own projects. The volatility of energy prices was also mentioned as an issue to be tackled with collaborative projects.
Francisco Royano, Director of Transferencia Tecnológica del Instituto de Hidráulica Ambiental de la Universidad de Cantabria (IHCantabria) (Technology Transfer at the Institute of Environmental Hydraulics of the University of Cantabria), has presented the Supercluster Atlantic Wind (SAW) to promote offshore wind energy through the union of the three offshore energy clusters of Galicia, Asturias and Cantabria. Its objective is to promote offshore wind energy through the collaboration of value chains. To this end, it has developed a platform with more than 100 companies capable of working in all links of the marine renewable energy value chain.
For his part, Renato Marques from UChat4Me has talked about the impact of artificial intelligence in the green industry. In this regard, he explained that the SmartGrid system can reduce carbon emissions by 10% through the optimisation of energy distribution and in terms of energy efficiency, the use of AI and IOT in agriculture can reduce water consumption by 30%. The application of AI in supply chain optimisation can reduce the cost of operations by 15% and material waste by 10%. The use of AI for species conservation also stands out, leading to 20% efficiency gains in conservation strategies.
Additionally, business opportunities in offshore and the use of artificial intelligence in the green industry were discussed in a round table moderated by Jorge García (University of Oviedo) with the participation of Francisco Royano (IHCantabria), Renato Marques (UChat4Me) and Daniel F. Poulussen (IDONIAL).
The participants have pointed out the application of AI in predictive maintenance and in other fields such as purifying centres, as well as in software development, quality data collection, specific training of people, analysis of high-resolution current generations and their effect, as well as the tensor part of floating platforms. In addition, they have highlighted the application of AI in the prediction of possible tsunamis and their possible effects.
The presentations have continued with value propositions in the green industry by companies located in Spanish and Portuguese scientific and technological parks:
- Tree Flowers Solutions (Brigântia): company dedicated to R&D, production and marketing of natural organic preservatives such as chestnut flower extract for which they have a patent.
- Urbas Energy (PCT Gijón): a company positioned in the global revolution of green hydrogen and ammonia.
- Titanium (Porto Digital Europa): company dedicated to projects and solutions for the application of AI in business.
- Drage & Mate (Parque Científico de Madrid y Parque Científico de Murcia): company dedicated to scientific and technological services to support entities in solving problems related to green energy generation, water treatment and cost-effective CO2 capture.
- Alsa R&D Centre (PCT Gijón): recently launched R&D centre focused on a climate neutrality roadmap for the company’s vehicle fleet.
Finally, representatives of Spanish and Portuguese scientific and technological parks presented possibilities for collaboration in the green industry based on the activities they are each developing:
- Javier Taibo (Parque Tecnolóxico de Galicia- Tecnópole): The park has the brand Tecnópole en verde that groups all the initiatives related to the improvement of sustainability in the park, highlighting the implementation of an innovative public procurement process to create an energy storage centre and its subsequent consumption outside the solar cycle.
- Ricardo Gonçalves (Área de Inovação do Fundão): Fundão has an ambitious innovation plan that includes more than 80 innovation projects, a video game cluster, a digital twin of the entity itself, an IoT centre and the horizontal application of blockchain to the energy sector.
- Jose Luis Canito (Parque Científico y Tecnológico de Extremadura): He presented his strategy to transform the Extremadura region through cooperation, research and innovation with a focus on the agri-food industry and energy, where the region is a leader in photovoltaic production and is now focusing on storage.
- Tiago Santos (Sines Tecnopolo): Incubator interface between Sines industry and its small and medium-sized enterprises and focused on various sectoral areas, including the blue economy.
- Arantxa González de Miguel (Parque Tecnológico de Euskadi): She has addressed the energy transition by promoting renewable energy with the installation of photovoltaic installations, monitoring energy consumption, promoting sustainable mobility, applying AI in energy efficiency, decarbonising existing buildings and promoting sustainability and mobility forums among companies and agents in the park.
- Nuno Malta (Innovation Area of Rio Maior): It highlights the creation of a living lab in the field of sport tech, supporting the development of companies and the training of people in this area in which they are open to collaboration.
The day’s programme has culminated with the presentation of the organiser of the XVIII Encuentro Ibérico, which will be the Parque do Alentejo de Ciência e Tecnologia (PAC) located in Évora.
About the Encuentros Ibéricos
Since 2002, APTE and TECPARQUES have been working to promote collaboration between Spanish and Portuguese parks in order to strengthen cooperation in the field of innovation between companies and R&D entities located in the parks of both associations.
To this end, for the last 22 years the “Encuentros Ibéricos” have served to analyse these innovation systems and the possibilities of cooperation that they offer, as well as the possibility of this increasingly cohesive Iberian alliance assuming a greater role in European innovation policies.