The CEO of Eiffage Energía Sistemas and representative of Eiffage in Spain, José Manuel Martínez participated in the forum ‘Conversation: Castilla-La Mancha, investment destination ‘ organized by Cadena SER Castilla-La Mancha. A meeting coordinated by the head of economics of Cadena Ser, Javier Ruiz, which was attended by the President of the regional government, Emiliano García-Page, and the Mayor of Albacete, Emilio Sáez Cruz, among other authorities and representatives of the region’s socio-economic fabric.
Specifically, Martinez was part of a panel discussion on the “Made in CLM” business fabric, moderated by Radio Albacete journalist Kiko Aznar. Other speakers were Javier Rosell, Director General of Companies of Castilla-La Mancha; Juan Antonio Gómez-Pintado, CEO of Lignum Tech; and Manuel Cerrillo Arrebola, President of Laboratorio Valquer.
Green hydrogen
During his speech, José Manuel Martínez highlighted, among other issues, the aim of positioning Castilla-La Mancha as a benchmark in the generation of Green Energy. In this sense, he explained that Eiffage Energía Sistemas is working on a pilot project related to green hydrogen at the company’s headquarters in Albacete. A project that combines solar photovoltaic technology with electrolysis to produce green hydrogen using renewable energy from the sun.
A benchmark company in Castilla-La Mancha
Martínez had the opportunity to talk about our company, which was introduced as one of the three success stories in the region.
“We have been in Spain for 40 years and this year we are celebrating 20 years in Castilla-La Mancha, particularly in Albacete. The company’s development has been very important,” said the EES CEO, who emphasised the close relationship with the regional government.
In this context, he explained that “we started out as a company with 230 employees, with a turnover of 24 million euros. Today, two decades later, we have almost 5,000 employees, around 1,000 in Castilla-La Mancha, and a turnover of one billion”. Clearly, either we have a close relationship (I would add accessibility) or we could not operate as we are doing. The CLM government facilitates this accessibility, the rapid resolution of the problems of the companies and, of course, with social players (trade unions), in exactly the same way. Developing economic activity with this kind of social peace makes it much easier to grow.
“In terms of renewable energies, we are proud to be the number one European installer in terms of the number of megawatts of power. And, of all the power installed annually, one third is in Castilla-La Mancha. This is a sign of the good administrative management of the resources we have”, said the CEO of Eiffage Energía Sistemas.
The leading region in renewable energy generation in Spain
In this sense, José Manuel Martínez explained that “the wind and the sun give us the competitive capacity to be a region that produces surplus energy, and to position ourselves as the leading region in the generation of renewable energy in Spain”.
Martínez stressed that Eiffage Energía Sistemas’ commitment to sustainability is a key factor across its activities. He also mentioned some of the company’s milestones, such as the sustainable construction model developed by its subsidiary Eiffage Conscytec.
