Impulsa Galicia meets with the ICT sector to present them the data centre that will contribute to the digitalization of Galicia
The entities congratulated the launch of this new infrastructure that is open to the entire Galician economic fabric.
The public-private partnership Impulsa Galicia, whose main objective is to streamline strategic projects that contribute to the transformation of the Galician economy through a green and digital model, met with the main entities of the ICT sector operating in the community. The purpose of the meeting was to present them in detail the construction project of a large data centre and to familiarize them with the operation of the partnership. Miguel Corgos, Regional Minister of Finance and Public Administration and board member of Impulsa Galicia; Enyd López, General Director of the partnership; Juan Luis Vargas-Zúñiga, General Director of Capital Markets, Management and Institutional Distribution at Abanca and member of the technical committee of Impulsa Galicia; and David Gómez, General Director of the Data Centre division at Ingenostrum, the company promoting the data centre, participated in the meeting. This meeting is part of a series of sectoral meetings of Impulsa Galicia with the Galician business fabric.
In the meeting held in A Coruña, Miguel Corgos recalled that Impulsa Galicia is a tool created at the request of the Xunta to develop projects framed within the Galicia Transformation Hub, which are characterized by meeting two basic requirements: "contributing to the energy transition and the digitalization of Galicia." In this context, the need arose for the construction of a large data centre with a differential offer compared to what currently exists in Galicia: "the data storage capacity, which is why it is designed to accommodate 15 MW IT, and sustainability, which is why we demand that it be carbon-positive, meaning that it not only be environmentally neutral, but also that the heat generated by its activity can be utilized by another industry," stated the Regional Minister.
On her part, the General Director of the partnership, Enyd López, explained that "in every Impulsa Galicia project, we seek to create synergies with the local business fabric" and emphasized that the data centre is a project open to "all companies, entities, and administrations based in Galicia, regardless of their size. We work to enhance the competitiveness of all of them."
Juan Luis Vargas-Zúñiga, a member of the technical committee of the partnership, stated that Impulsa Galicia has taken the first step with the launch of the project, and now "we must, together, be able to consolidate it." He challenged those present to express what they seek in an unparalleled infrastructure in the Galician market, which will enable them to stop outsourcing data storage services.
In this way, one by one, the attending ICT entities took the floor. They all expressed their gratitude for the invitation and open dialogue and congratulated the initiative of having a data centre that serves the entire Galician business fabric and aligns with the increasing market demand for sustainability.
On his part, David Gómez from Ingenostrum clarified that the project is in an early stage. "Currently, we are looking for a location and considering agreements with various types of partners, including end customers and cloud service providers," he stated.
Representatives from the ICT Cluster, Altia, R, Plexus, Dinahosting, ITG, NTTDATA Spain, Gradiant, Feuga, Cidade das TIC, CiQUS, CITIC, CETIM, Galvintec, and ITG attended the meeting.
ABOUT THE DATA CENTRE PROJECT
The objective of the construction and implementation project of a large data centre, in line with the National Recovery, Transformation, and Resilience Plan, is the modernization and digitalization of the Galician business fabric. This project aims to provide the Galician SMEs, large companies, and public institutions with the necessary data storage capacity, high-speed connectivity, sufficient bandwidth, and low latency (temporal delays within a network) to facilitate the digitalization of SMEs by offering services that they cannot currently obtain in the market, ensuring economies of scale and cost efficiencies.
The projected 15MW IT capacity would allow hosting the data of Galician companies, thereby providing Galicia with sovereignty over the control of community data.
Over the past year, Impulsa Galicia has carried out the conceptualization, project design, and search for an investment and development partner. The Spanish company Ingenostrum has been chosen to lead the project, partnering with the engineering firm Nexitic, specialized in the design of such infrastructures.
The total investment is estimated at 400 million euros, with 130 million allocated to the construction itself and the remaining 270 million to be invested in IT servers and technology.
The construction phase of the data centre is expected to generate approximately 200 jobs, which typically last for about a year in this type of infrastructure project. Following that, around 100 high-skilled positions would be created for its maintenance, including both direct and indirect employment opportunities.
Impulsa Galicia and Xunta de Galicia hold a working meeting on the future Natural Resources Law
Within the round of consultations initiated at the end of March by the Xunta de Galicia to find out the opinion of different professional sectors and agents on the future Law of Natural Resources, the First Vice-President and Regional Minister of Economy, Industry and Innovation, Francisco Conde, accompanied by the Regional Minister of Finance and Public Administration, Miguel Corgos, and the Regional Minister of Rural Environment, José González, met with the technical committee and the general management of Impulsa Galicia.
The meeting discussed how the future regulation will require environmental impact statements to evaluate the social and economic effects of projects, including aspects such as the participation of local investors, the creation of employment in the area, the reduction of energy costs and the preservation of cultural and natural assets. It was also discussed in which projects the future Utility, a public-private company that will be created to ensure that part of the profits from the use of natural resources have a direct positive impact on Galicia as a whole, will be able to participate.
Impulsa Galicia and Altri present the Palas de Rei sustainable textile fibre factory project in Brussels
The public-private company Impulsa Galicia and Altri, the industrial partner of one of its portfolio projects, presented to the European Commission the details of the project for the sustainable textile fibre factory in Palas de Rei.
The meeting was attended by Enyd López, General Director of Impulsa Galicia; on behalf of Altri, José Pina, CEO, and Carlos Van Zeller, vice-president of the executive committee; and on behalf of the European Commission, Emmanuelle Maire, head of the Circular Economy, Sustainable Production and Consumption Unit of the Environment Department, and José María Ramos Florido, from the Environment Directorate-General.
Those responsible for the project that will allow the production of sustainable textile fibres from certified wood of Galicia and textile waste explained the dimensions and the pioneering character of an initiative that will turn Europe into a benchmark of circular economy in the textile sector.
About the sustainable forest management project
It is a driving project based on the transformation of wood into textile fiber under the principles of sustainability and circularity. The vital cycle of wood in Galicia will be closed and 200,000 tons per year of sustainable textile fiber will be manufactured in the autonomous community, using certified wood from our forests as the main raw material, as well as textile waste. This is a pioneering initiative at European level, as it will integrate in a single process the production of pulp and fiber, in addition to the use of textile waste.
With an investment of more than 800 million euros, the centre is expected to create 2,500 direct and indirect jobs and generate synergies with other key sectors of the Galician economy, such as forestry and textiles. It is the only one of its kind currently planned in Europe.
The Portuguese paper company Altri is the chosen industry leader that will finance the design and development of the initiative until it reaches the point of investment. As the project progresses, Altri will explore partnerships with the entire value chain of the Galician forestry sector.
After announcing Palas de Rei as the site chosen to implement the manufacturing complex, Altri is moving forward with the environmental impact study, the engineering project, the economic feasibility, financing and access to EU funds. At present, more than a hundred engineers from different parts of the world are working on the project and the company has a permanent headquarters in the city of A Coruña, where there are a dozen employees.
On December 29, the President of the Xunta, Alfonso Rueda, announced the declaration of the project as a strategic industrial project for Galicia, a consideration aimed at facilitating its administrative processing.
Impulsa Galicia presents itself to Madrid's business and investment community
The Xunta de Galicia, Abanca, Reganosa and the directors of of the current driving projects promoters, give the keys to why the public-private partnership is a unique tool in Spain.
7 March 2023
The main hall of the Casa de Galicia was too small for those who wished to attend the presentation of the company Impulsa Galicia in the Spanish capital. In it, entrepreneurs and investors had the opportunity to learn the value of this tool for the development of driving projects from the experience of all parties involved. Speakers included the president of the Xunta de Galicia, Alfonso Rueda; the First from the experience of all parties involved Vice-President of the Xunta de Galicia and President of Impulsa Galicia, Francisco Conde; the Chairman of Abanca, Juan Carlos Escotet; the General Manager of Reganosa and member of the Impulsa Galicia technical committee, Emilio Bruquetas; the General Manager of Capital Markets, Institutional Management and Distribution of Abanca and member of the technical committee of Impulsa Galicia, Juan Luis Vargas-Zúñiga; the CEO of Altri Group, José Pina; the Director of New Businesses of Naturgy, Silvia Sanjoaquín; the Director of Renewable Fuels of Repsol, Berta Cabello; the CEO of Ingenostrum, Santiago Rodriguez and the General Director of Impulsa Galicia, Enyd López.
In his speech, the Chairman of Abanca, Juan Carlos Escotet, stressed that Impulsa Galicia has a characteristic that makes it exceptional: “it aspires to project itself over time. It was created to influence, under sustainability criteria, the development of an economic structure that is increasingly more productive, more competitive and more inclusive”.
For his part, the Vice-President of the Xunta de Galicia and President of Impulsa, Francisco Conde, assured those present that in Galicia “there is a deep interest in attracting investment towards the objective that we have from the point of view of economic policy, which is to commit to an industrial agenda in the 2030 horizon (...) Impulsa is situated in this context. It aims to be the platform for business initiatives that are the driving force behind this industrial agenda”.
Emilio Bruquetas and Juan Luis Vargas-Zúñiga, as members of the technical committee, briefly explained the origins of Impulsa and the nature of the projects underway. Both emphasised the circularity of the projects, not only because they are sustainable, but also because they are projects that will generate other projects, expanding into other sectors and attracting investment and talent from outside.
Investment such as that being made by the Portuguese company Altri in this initial phase of the start-up of a pioneering industrial complex for the production of textile fibres from certified Galician wood. José Pina, CEO of Altri, stated that one of the reasons for deciding to invest in this project was the support of the Administration through Impulsa Galicia.
In the same line, Berta Cabello of Repsol and Silvia Sanjoaquín of Naturgy, the companies promoting, together with Reganosa, the project to generate biogas and fertilisers from surplus livestock manure, stressed the importance of collaboration between the Administration and companies. In a project “unique for providing a solution for the whole territory” and within the framework of decarbonisation, they highlighted the great importance of collaboration between the Administration and companies. This was also confirmed by Santiago Rodríguez, CEO of Ingenostrum, the company that will lead the construction of a large data centre that will facilitate the digitisation of the business and institutional fabric of Galicia and make data storage and processing cheaper.
Finally, and to close the day, the President of the Xunta, Alfonso Rueda, encouraged those present to invest in Galicia and in its driving projects, because the current projects "have come to be a reality and although we are at the beginning of the road, this will open the doors to many other projects that we want to do in Galicia (...) Entrepreneurship in Galicia is worthwhile," he said.
Impulsa Galicia selects Ingenostrum as industrial partner for the implementation of a large data centre
The infrastructure offers up to 15 MW IT that would give the community sovereignty in the control of its data.
It would involve a total investment of 400 million euros and the generation of around 100 highly qualified direct and indirect jobs.
1 March 2023
The public-private company Impulsa Galicia, whose main objective is to contribute to the transformation of the Galician economy, has selected Ingenostrum as an industrial partner to begin analysing the feasibility of a large data centre. This infrastructure would represent a turning point in the digitisation of the business and institutional fabric of the autonomous community. This was communicated by those responsible for the project to the President of the Xunta de Galicia, Alfonso Rueda, at a meeting held this afternoon at the headquarters of the Galician Government, attended by Francisco Conde, First Vice-President of the Xunta and President of Impulsa Galicia; Miguel Corgos, Regional Minister of Finance of the Xunta and member of the technical committee of Impulsa Galicia; Juan Luis Vargas-Zúñiga, General Manager of Capital Markets, Management and Institutional Distribution of ABANCA and member of the technical committee of Impulsa Galicia; Enyd López, General Director of Impulsa Galicia; Santiago Rodríguez, CEO of Ingenostrum and David Gómez, Deputy General Manager of Ingenostrum.
The objective of the project for the construction and implementation of a large data centre, in line with the National Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, is the modernisation and digitisation of the Galician business fabric. This project seeks to provide Galician SMEs, large companies and public institutions with a technological solution that guarantees the data storage they need, high-speed connectivity, sufficient bandwidth and low latency (temporary delays within a network), thus facilitating the digitisation of SMEs by offering services that they would not be able to obtain today on the market, ensuring economies of scale and cost efficiencies. In addition, it would allow the establishment of synergies with projects already underway in Galicia.
The planned 15MW IT capacity would allow hosting the data of the vast majority of Galician companies, which would give Galicia sovereignty over the control of the community's data.
Over the last year, Impulsa Galicia carried out the conceptualisation and design of the project and the search for an investment partner and promoter. The Spanish company Ingenostrum has been chosen to lead the project, and will go hand in hand with the engineering firm Nexitic, specialised in the design of this type of infrastructure.
A total investment of EUR 400 million is estimated, of which EUR 130 million would be devoted to the construction itself and the remaining EUR 270 million would be invested in the information technology (IT) servers.
Around 200 jobs would be generated during the construction period, which in this type of infrastructure usually lasts for a year, and afterwards, around 100 highly qualified jobs would be created for its maintenance, both direct and indirect.
The General Director of Impulsa Galicia, Enyd López, stressed that “the data centre is one of the projects included in the Galician Transformation Hub, with which we are making progress in achieving a digital and sustainable economic model. We developped an innovative idea, we turned it into a driving project and we found a technologist and investor for it to prosper outside our umbrella”. We are very satisfied,” she added, “to find a solid partner and also to articulate everything that lies ahead as a national project, the result of public-private collaboration and which will serve the whole of Galician society, making us leaders in digitization”.
According to Santiago Rodríguez, CEO of Ingenostrum: “This is a very exciting project for Ingenostrum because it consolidates us as a leading company in the conceptualisation of data centres. We are confident that this initiative will be a boost for the data centre sector in our country and will help us to establish ourselves as the new technological hub of Europe”.
Impulsa Galicia initiates a series of sectoral meetings with the Galician business community to advance in the development of new driving projects
Francisco Conde, first Vice-president of the Xunta de Galicia and president of the company, took part in the first of the conferences, which focused on the energy sector
The public-private company Impulsa Galicia, whose main objective is to streamline strategic projects that contribute to the transformation of the Galician economy through a green and digital model, met with the main energy companies operating in Galicia. The purpose of the meeting was to inform them about the functioning of the company, as well as to make itself available to them for the development of new driving projects. The meeting was attended by Francisco Conde, first Vice-president of the Xunta and president of Impulsa Galicia, Enyd López, General Director of the company, and Paula Uría, General Secretary of Industry of the Galician government.
With this conference, Impulsa Galicia is beginning a round of sectoral meetings with the Galician business community. In this first meeting, focused on the energy sector, Francisco Conde stressed that Impulsa Galicia is a tool created at the behest of the Xunta de Galicia to develop those projects framed in the Galician Transformation Hub, but that it has a vocation for the future and is at the service of all Galician companies: "Beyond the projects that you are carrying out in Galicia as promoters, count on Impulsa Galicia for those projects that you could not undertake alone; transformative projects from the energy point of view and that generate great impact".
In her speech, the company's general director, Enyd López, explained how, after taking charge of the conceptualisation phase of an idea and developing the business project, they look for an industrial partner or investor to study its viability. "We sign a memorandum of understanding with the selected development partner to ensure that the project is inclusive and that the value stays in Galicia, while generating an industrial footprint and a driving effect on the entire value chain, placing the SME at the centre of the strategy. Subsequently, we accompanied it throughout the process of economic, technical and financial feasibility analysis to take the project to the final investment decision," López explained.
By way of illustration, both Francisco Conde and Enyd López referred to the project for the generation of sustainable textile fibres, whose industrial partner is Altri, and the project for the generation of biogas and organic fertilisers from surplus livestock manure, in which Impulsa Galicia collaborates with Repsol, Reganosa and Naturgy.
For their part, the representatives of the attending companies and associations from the energy sector were grateful for the meeting and the open dialogue. They consider useful and necessary a unique tool such as Impulsa Galicia, where administration and business work together and thanked the efforts of the Xunta to expedite the processing of projects that industrialise and digitise Galicia.
The meeting was attended by representatives from Endesa, Iberdrola, Windar, EDPR, Repsol, ASIME, the Galician Hydrogen Association, CLUERGAL, Clúster de Biomasa, AGAEN, Adelanta and Galenergy.
The project for the sustainable management of Galician forests, whose industrial promoter is Altri, declared by the Xunta de Galicia as strategic
Rueda points out that it is a "unique initiative in Europe" that integrates plants and pulp and lyocell and urges the government to clarify whether it will access European funds.
He stresses that the market for sustainable cellulosic fibres has a high growth potential because "they are more environmentally friendly than artificial fibres" and are increasingly in demand in the sector.
With an investment of more than 800 million euros, the initiative plans to produce up to 200,000 tonnes of lyocell per year.
The President of the Xunta de Galicia, Alfonso Rueda, announced the declaration of the project for the sustainable management of Galician forests, which includes the start-up of Altri's textile fibre factory in Palas de Rei (Lugo), as a strategic industrial project for Galicia. The initiative, the only one of its kind in Europe and part of the Galician Transformation Hub, has been given this status in order to facilitate its administrative processing. "It is an innovative and ambitious project to produce lyocell, a high quality fabric, more environmentally friendly than artificial fibres and increasingly demanded by the textile industry worldwide", Rueda stressed, who emphasised that "there is no similar project planned in Europe".
"With an investment of more than 800 million euros, the centre is expected to create 2,500 direct jobs and generate synergies with other key sectors of the Galician economy, such as forestry and textiles," said the president. It is oriented to the production of textile fibres with the forecast of achieving 200,000 tons per year of lyocell, a high quality fabric that has a growing implantation in the textile industry for representing an ecological alternative to artificial fibres of fossil origin.
The factory project to be installed in Palas de Rei is the only one of its kind currently planned in Europe and integrates the pulp and lyocell plants, as well as favouring synergies with other initiatives under development in the Galician ecosystem. It is expected to have a dynamising impact on the area by prioritising the hiring of local workers, thus contributing to the objective of setting the population in rural areas.
The declaration as a strategic industrial project is in line with the philosophy of the Law of administrative simplification and support for the economic reactivation of Galicia, which seeks to attract investment. It will allow the reduction by half of the deadlines - except those relating to the submission of applications and appeals - while maintaining the technical, legal and environmental guarantees.
The plant meets all the requirements to be a strategic industrial project, as it exceeds the minimum investment of 20 million euros and the creation of at least 100 jobs - Altri expects to generate 2,500 direct jobs - . It also meets the requirement that the initiatives must complement value chains, belong to strategic sectors or be aligned with the objectives of the European Union or be integrated into the NextGeneration funding.
Impulsa Galicia analyses with the President of the Xunta de Galicia the progress of the main transformational projects underway
Alfonso Rueda highlights the community's commitment to alternative energies and initiatives to promote the circular economy that will place Galicia at the forefront of renewables and the sustainable economy.
The Impulsa Galicia technical committee met with the President of the Xunta de Galicia, Alfonso Rueda, to analyse the main strategic projects launched for the advancement of the region and the opportunities for their development.
Specifically, the committee reported on the status of leading initiatives such as projects revolving around the recovery of textile fibres, technological advances at the service of the community or the implementation of alternatives that enable Galician society and its business sector to compete in the field of energy.
Impulsa's technical committee agreed that the projects the company is working on within the Galician Transformation Hub show a commitment to alternative energies and initiatives to promote the circular economy that will place the region at the forefront of renewables and the sustainable economy.
Impulsa Galicia presents itself in front of Galician society as the optimal tool to gain investments and carry out strategic projects
The dissemination session count on the presence of Alfonso Rueda, Francisco Conde, Juan Carlos Escotet and the representative from society’s executive committee, as well as representatives from two of the most advanced projects: one about the sustainable management of Galician forests and other about circular economy
November 8th, 2022.
Impulsa Galicia, the private-public partnership created for the development of strategical projects, was presented in front of a well-stocked representation of Galician’s society as an optimal tool, unique in Spain, for investment channelling and the articulation of strategic projects worthy of European funds. In one of its dissemination sessions organized in Santiago de Compostela, representatives of its shareholders attended, both public and private, and the promoters of the main projects underway: the sustainable management of Galician forests and the circular economy.
Created in April of 2021 by the Xunta de Galicia (40%), Abanca (38%), Reganosa (12%) and Sogama (10%), Impulsa Galicia has been entrusted with the development of business initiatives that have an impact on the dynamization, progress and transformation of Galician economy through a green and digital model. It was created with the aim of encouraging productive activity in the autonomous community by attracting investment, incorporating partners and collaboration between public and private institutions for the subsequent implementation and consolidation of business proposals.
This was stated by Francisco Conde, president of Impulsa Galicia, in his welcome speech. He emphasized that this company was created with the aim of contributing to the green and digital transformation of the Galician business network. "It is an opportunity to transform the industrial network from innovation and sustainability, creating quality employment," said the first vice-president of the Government of Galicia.
For his part, the president of Abanca, Juan Carlos Escotet, in his speech on behalf of the private shareholders of Impulsa Galicia, reaffirmed the bank's commitment to facilitate access to European funds, attract new investors and show that Galicia "is a land of opportunities".
The conference also included a round table discussion between two members of the company's executive committee, Emilio Bruquetas, general manager of Reganosa, and Juan Luis Vargas-Zúñiga, general manager of Capital Markets, Management and Institutional Distribution of Abanca, moderated by the company's general manager, Enyd López. In it, Emilio Bruquetas emphasized that the projects in the portfolio had their origin in the Polo para la Transformación de Galicia, which arose to get out of the crisis caused by the pandemic sooner and better. There, a series of strategic tractor projects for the Galician economy and interconnected with each other were identified. "They are projects that take advantage of the competitive advantages that Galicia has, that generate inputs and outputs among all of them, and we are sure that there are many more that can be part of this ecosystem," said Bruquetas.
Along these lines Vargas-Zúñiga insisted: "There was a first phase of ideas and now we must promote other projects where other entrepreneurs participate, where we attract a qualified population". He guaranteed that they have the capacity to make financing reach the companies in a "faster and more efficient" way. And he claimed Impulsa Galicia as a facilitator of economic resources flowing for strategic projects such as the creation of a large data centre based in Galicia, "which can generate new jobs and a differentiating productive network". "Impulsa belongs to Galician people and its doors are open to entrepreneurs, so that an idea can come and we can conceptualize it," he said.
In a second table, also moderated by the general manager of the company, two of the great projects already known were detailed without much significance. On the one hand, the vice-president of Altri's executive committee, Carlos Van Zeller, the company behind the project for the sustainable management of Galician forests consisting of the start-up of a sustainable textile fiber factory in Palas de Rei, explained that there are currently 100 engineers working on the design of the textile complex and that all the permits and licenses are being processed. "The critical point is, undoubtedly, the funding", he stated, "we held up to five meetings with the Spanish Government and it is urgent to know if European funds will be allocated to this project, which should have a particular PERTE due to the volume of investment required".
On the other hand, Silvia Sanjoaquín, director of New Businesses of Naturgy, and Natalia Barreiro, director of the Repsol industrial complex in A Coruña, delved into the circular economy project that will use the surplus of bovine, pig and poultry slurry to produce biogas and fertilizer. They highlighted the public-private collaboration as key to the development of this project, which they affirm "is unique in Spain and Europe" and "generates quality employment in the framework of the energy transition in sparsely populated areas". The biogas produced will make it possible to "decarbonize Galician transport, homes and industry".
Finally, the president of the Xunta de Galicia, Alfonso Rueda, closed the day, stating that the initiatives developed under Impulsa Galicia together add up to "millions of euros of investment and the expected generation of thousands of jobs". "They are viable, realistic projects, and they can be a happy reality and a source of wealth for Galicia", he declared. He also reclaimed the involvement of the central government, through the European funds, for the attainment of financing of these projects. "From here we did exactly everything that was demanded from Brussels and Madrid", he guaranteed.
The Xunta highlights that the circular economy centre will increase Galicia's energy autonomy and job opportunities, especially in rural areas
The first Vice-president and Regional Minister of Economy, Industry and Innovation, Francisco Conde, and the Regional Minister for the Rural Environment, José González, held a meeting with representatives of Reganosa, Repsol and Naturgy, accompanied by the general director of Impulsa Galicia, Enyd López.
The First Vice-President and Regional Minister of Economy, Industry and Innovation, Francisco Conde, and the Regional Minister for the Rural Environment José González, held a meeting this morning with Reganosa, Repsol and Naturgy, which, together with Impulsa Galicia and the Xunta, are promoting the future circular economy centre for the production of biogas and fertilisers from livestock waste.
According to Conde, this initiative will increase Galicia's energy autonomy and employment opportunities, especially in rural areas, and demonstrates how public-private collaboration enables the generation and development of proposals that improve Galicia's industrial capacities.
The project, which will cost 146 million euros in the first phase, stands out for its innovative component, its environmental benefits, its support for rural areas, and for being framed within the challenge of energy transition. The initiative would cover 7% of Galicia's demand for imported natural gas with biomethane.
In this regard, the economic vice-president of the Xunta highlighted the role played by the company Impulsa Galicia. Together with Altri, this is the second project to be matured and developed under the auspices of this public-private entity created with the function of identifying proposals and consolidating them as viable initiatives.
Thus, the circular economy project is the result of many months of previous work, and the forecast of the promoting partners is to start the basic engineering work next November. This is one of the major proposals with which Galicia is applying for European Next Generation funds, and for this reason, the Xunta hopes that once and for all the Government will show its involvement with this project, which is also one of the projects selected to participate in the calls for proposals of the Just Transition Fund.
For his part, the Regional Minister for the Rural Environment, José González, stressed that this circular economy project, which seeks to transform surplus slurry and other waste into biomethane and organic fertilisers, will guarantee at all times the availability for livestock farmers of the livestock excrement needed to fertilise their land in a sustainable way, as well as the economic viability of their farms.
In his speech, José González specified that the first anaerobic digestion plant to produce renewable gas from surplus bovine, pig and poultry excrement mixed with other waste from the agri-food sector is to be installed in Meirama. In the first phase, five pre-treatment centres associated with this plant will be set up in the provinces of A Coruña and Lugo, taking into account the distribution of Galician farms, with the idea of extending the circular economy project to Ourense and Pontevedra, thus establishing a comprehensive network for the treatment of surplus livestock excrement, bringing the initiative closer to the places where there are livestock farms.
The Regional Minister for the Rural Environment added that the implementation of this initiative would also contribute to compliance with the new European environmental legislation on the protection of agricultural land and effluent control, as well as sustainable nutrition of agricultural land, and would provide a solution to recurring issues in the management and storage of livestock excretions.
The Regional Minister also highlighted the collaboration of the sector in carrying out this initiative, pointing out that he will shortly begin a round of meetings with cooperatives, livestock associations and agricultural organisations to explain the project to them, always seeking the viability of Galician farms.
