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Iberdrola today held a conference at its global smart grid headquarters in Bilbao dedicated to promoting young talent linked to green jobs. The necessary energy transition offers an opportunity for the future employment of young generations with the specialisation of jobs related to electrification, smart grids and renewable energies.

As part of the Basque company's firm commitment to changing the energy model to a so-called 'green industrial revolution', 60 young students have gathered at the Global Smart Grids Innovation Hub -GSGIH-, which is celebrating its second anniversary these days since its inauguration, to share experiences and knowledge that will set them on the path to their future careers based on their commitment to sustainability. At the Iberdrola HUB headquarters in Bilbao, a Hackathon was held based on Artificial Intelligence oriented towards energy distribution with smart grids. In this way, a meeting point was established between students, institutions and the company to share challenges, opportunities and experiences and encourage young people to develop their professional careers in the sector.

During the conference at the Larraskitu headquarters, called 'Hackaton 2023: Artificial Intelligence', the combination of youth and innovation went hand in hand with smart grids, a key tool in the process of decarbonising the economy. Electrification is the way to meet the challenges of a Europe that has set a red deadline of 2030 to comply with the Paris Agreements.

On this path towards a new energy model, the Iberdrola Hub has a tractor effect with universities, companies and institutions to establish a collaborative space and offer innovative solutions.

Objective: attracting and retaining talent

One of the fundamental pillars of the Global Smart Grids Innovation Hub is the attraction and retention of talent. The GSGIH carries out different types of activities to bring the energy sector in general, and smart grids in particular, closer to the young professionals of the future. It shares the challenges and opportunities it offers and tries to ensure that it has experts in digital skills already in demand by Smart Grids, such as cybersecurity or artificial intelligence, key technologies to lead the energy transition.

Among the many activities are the promotion of scholarships for related studies, the reception of visitors at the GSGIH itself (universities, vocational training centres, schools...) and visits to other centres and participation in forums and events, sometimes organised by the GSGIH itself and sometimes as a participant.

Among the 100 partners of the GSGIH, there are 15 universities and technology centres, which serve as a channel to bring together students and graduates from different specialisations and with an interest in a sector.

Iberdrola wants to remain at the forefront of the energy transition by developing new business and technological models in distribution grids. The electricity system is undergoing an unprecedented transformation and the grids have become a cornerstone of the energy revolution; an essential platform for moving towards a decarbonised economy, which favours the development of an electricity system with more renewable sources, sustainable mobility, smart cities and self-consumption.

With the creation of the Global Smart Grids Innovation Hub, the group aims to double the number of innovation projects in smart grids, consolidating and expanding the current successful model of collaboration with electrical equipment manufacturers. To this end, the company has identified from the outset more than 120 projects for future development worth 130 million euros.