On the sofa with… Albert Concepción, President of the Industry and Energy Forum

Advanced Manufacturing Madrid – What do you think the energy landscape will be like in 10 years?

Albert Concepción – How to predict the energy landscape in ten years’ time is very difficult, especially because some of the issues we have been facing, such as the war in Ukraine, have shown us that sometimes projects go down easily.

The energy panorama we have right now is very different to the one we had a few years ago and I think the key is to see how industry, as far as we are concerned – obviously there is also a part of domestic consumption – but the panorama is to see how industry will be able to face this situation and above all, how it will be able to apply other technologies that will allow it to produce new sources of energy that will allow it to continue producing capital goods.

The fact that the industry is able to continue along these lines is extremely important for the country to continue to move forward, and we need it.

AMM – What do you think the energy sources of the future will be?

A. Concepción – I think we have to start from the idea that right now all energy sources are indispensable in one way or another. Some sources are of the future and others are a key element in the transition.

If we want to see what the future is going to look like, we need to see how all these energy sources are going to evolve. How hydrogen is going to evolve, how, for example, cogeneration systems are going to be applied. The different energy sources and how industry is going to have to adapt in that process.

AMM – Why do you think these kinds of events are important for the industry?

A. Concepción – Well, these types of fairs and these types of meetings are important for the same reason that we set up the Industry and Energy Forum: as a meeting point capable of bringing together in the same space all those who are involved in one way or another in different activities.

In our case, the Industry and Energy Forum was created to bring together all those involved in the energy management of industry, whether they are those who produce it, those who consume it – in this case industry – or those who regulate it, such as the public administration.

And the fairs, these meetings obviously carry out the same activity. That is why we have something in common and it is so important to find common ground. Above all, because there is an issue that the SDGs themselves have already put into perspective. It is SDG 17, which is to have common goals and to work together.

And that is the role of trade fairs like this one, in which, of course, the Industry and Energy Forum agrees, because it is essential.