The suitability profile evaluation process for the management of Recursos de Galicia has concluded
Impulsa Galicia has concluded an evaluation process of the suitability of profiles considered for leading Recursos de Galicia, a pioneering mixed company recently created by the Xunta de Galicia and 33 private companies. The company aims to promote the maximization of the impact on the territory generated by the natural resources of the autonomous community, as well as competitiveness in energy prices and the decarbonization of the economy. Endorsed by a prestigious international firm specialized in talent selection, the outcome of this process is a proposal to appoint Emilio Bruquetas Serantes as the CEO of the new utility. The appointment will need to be agreed upon and formalized by the board of directors of the aforementioned company. This board will hold its first meeting soon, in any case, before December 1st.
First, as a member of the committee of economic experts advising the Xunta de Galicia on post-pandemic recovery, and later as a consultant and executive at Impulsa Galicia, Bruquetas has been connected to the project from its inception, being involved in all the steps: conception, ideation, negotiation, and realization.
After learning about the suitability analysis results, the president of Impulsa Galicia positively assessed the process. Also serving as the Regional Minister of Economy, Industry, and Innovation, María Jesús Lorenzana, stated, "For this position, we will require a proven, bold profile with the ability to analyze business and a deep understanding of both the territory and the sector's peculiarities. We will also need an expert in cooperation between companies and public-private collaboration. These are all conditions that Emilio Bruquetas more than meets."
International Expansion and Diversification of Reganosa
Emilio Bruquetas, born in Santiago in 1974, holds a degree in Business Sciences and a master's degree in Business Administration and Management. In 2001, he joined Reganosa as the Head of Planning and Management Control. In March 2012, he was appointed as the company's CEO, a position he held until a few days ago at the energy group's parent company, Reganosa Holdco, from late 2017. He also served on the boards of Reganosa Servicios and chaired both Reganosa Malta and Reganosa Ghana, as well as Reganosa Italy and Reganosa Germany. During his tenure, the company strengthened its focus on the global market with LNG (liquefied natural gas) terminals in Delimara (Malta), Al-Zour (Kuwait), Tema (Ghana), Santa Giusta (Italy), and Brünsbuttel (Germany). Additionally, the company diversified its activities, driving projects in green hydrogen, renewable energy generation, energy storage, circular economy, efficiency, and digitalization.
Additionally, Emilio Bruquetas served as a member of national and international energy organizations, including the Permanent Commission of the Board of Directors of Sedigas (Spanish Gas Association), ENTSOG (European Network of Transmission System Operators for Gas), and GIE (Gas Infrastructure Europe). Furthermore, he holds a position as a board member of Impulsa Galicia and serves as an industrial advisor to the Center for Research and Mathematical Technology of Galicia (CITMAga).
In the academic field, Emilio Bruquetas has notable collaborations with the University of A Coruña. He has provided lectures in the Master of Banking and Finance, the MBA program, and the Master of Logistics and Transportation. Additionally, he has contributed to the Spanish Energy Club (Club Español de la Energía), specifically in the Master's program in Energy Finance.
Julio Pombo explains Galicia's contribution to the industry of the future in Europe
Impulsa Galicia participates in Brussels in a conference organized by the Galicia Europa Foundation on the occasion of the European Week of Regions
Within the framework of the European Week of the Regions, the largest event dedicated to the EU cohesion policy, the general director of Impulsa Galicia, Julio Pombo, participated in one of the events organized by the Galicia Europa Foundation, speaking about the Galicia's contribution to the industry of the future. Pombo pointed out that the decarbonization process offers the community great opportunities thanks to its natural resources, and gave as an example the Altri sustainable fiber production factory that “will be a benchmark in Europe in circularity.”
“Impulsa Galicia is the optimal vehicle to accelerate and facilitate the materialization of transformative and strategic projects in Galicia that revolve around three axes: natural resources, sustainability and digitalization,” said the general director of Impulsa. Among them, the sustainable management project for Galician forests stood out, which will position Galicia as a key point to supply sustainable fiber to nearby textile production markets such as the countries of Southern Europe, North Africa and East Asia.
Impulsa identified the increasing demand for lyocell, due, among other factors, to growing consumer awareness. The factory that Altri plans to establish in Palas de Rei, province of Lugo, “will allow the production of 200,000 tons of sustainable textile fiber per year, using certified wood from our forests as the main raw material, as well as textile waste,” he explained.
An expert in financial analysis and renewable energy takes over as general manager of Impulsa Galicia
PhD in Economics and former employee of the three Galician universities, Julio Pombo Romero takes the reins of the joint venture created to modernize the economy of the autonomous community through major transformational projects.
An expert in renewable energy and economic and financial analysis, Julio Pombo Romero will head the Sociedade para o Desenvolvemento de Proxectos Estratéxicos de Galicia, Impulsa Galicia, created by the Xunta de Galicia, Abanca, Reganosa and Sogama to modernize the economy of the autonomous community through major transformational projects.
Julio Pombo (Santiago de Compostela, 1978) has been appointed general manager of Impulsa Galicia at a crucial moment for the materialization of the company's project portfolio. With a PhD in Economics from the Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, he has worked, in addition to the Polytechnic University of Madrid, for the three Galician universities: for the University of Santiago, from 2009 to 2011; for the University of A Coruña, from 2015 to 2017; and for the University of Vigo, from 2018 to 2023. He also has experience in the private sphere and since last March he belonged, as economic advisor, to the technical cabinet of the president of the Xunta, Alfonso Rueda.
Throughout his career, Pombo has specialized in the development of business models and financial instruments for the implementation of renewable energy projects and facilities, as well as in the analysis of energy and climate change policies. He is also an expert in technology transfer, asset valuation and financial markets.
The new general manager of Impulsa Galicia replaces Enyd López, who is taking on new professional challenges. The president of the company, María Jesús Lorenzana, who is also the Regional Minister of Economy, Industry and Innovation, thanked López for his performance in the position over the last two years.
ABOUT IMPULSA GALICIA
Created in April 2021 by the Xunta de Galicia (40%), Abanca (38%), Reganosa (12%) and Sogama (10%), Impulsa Galicia is entrusted with the development of business initiatives that have an impact on the revitalization, progress and transformation of the 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.
It is a unique tool in Spain, designed under the guidelines set by Europe to contribute to the maturation of the initiatives of the Galician candidacy grouped around the Pole for the Transformation of Galicia. It focuses on materializing a pioneering plant to produce sustainable textile fibers, a biomethane generation network from slurry and other waste, new sources and vectors of renewable energy, a macro data center and a utility that maximizes the impact on the territory of the value generated by the natural resources of Galicia, among other initiatives.
The Regional Minister of Economy, Industry and Innovation, María Jesús Lorenzana, assumes the presidency of Impulsa Galicia
She attended for the first time the board of directors of the public-private partnership, which met this morning in Santiago de Compostela
The Regional Minister of Economy, Industry and Innovation, María Jesús Lorenzana, joined today the board of directors of the Society for the Development of Strategic Projects of Galicia, Impulsa Galicia, as its president, taking over from her predecessor in the position, Francisco Conde.
The board of directors of Impulsa Galicia has its number two in the delegate councilor of Abanca, Francisco Botas. Also part of it are the councilmen Miguel Corgos and José González, the general manager of Reganosa, Emilio Bruquetas; the general manager of Corporate Governance and Legal Affairs of Abanca, José Eduardo Álvarez - Naveiro, and the head of the Legal Department of this financial institution, Eduardo Cortizo. As independents, the former president of the Xunta, Fernando González Laxe; the professor of Applied Economics at the University of Vigo, Santiago Lago; the president of the Spanish Association of Artificial Intelligence, Amparo Alonso, and the deputy governor of the Development Bank of the Council of Europe, Rosa María Sánchez-Yebra.
At today's meeting, held in Santiago, the board of directors discussed the degree of development of well-known projects such as Altri's textile fiber factory in Palas de Rei; the use of slurry to generate biogas and fertilizers led by Naturgy, Reganosa and Repsol; the construction of the hydrogen plant in As Pontes by Reganosa and EDP; and the implementation of a large data center led by Ingenostrum with the capacity to store all the references of Galician companies and administrations. Progress on other projects was also discussed.
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.
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.
