Three Andalusian projects have been distinguished in the XVI edition of the EnerAgen 2025 Awards, whose award ceremony was presided over by the Minister of Industry, Energy, and Mines of the Junta de Andalucía, Jorge Paradela, and took place at the Real Alcázar in Seville. On one hand, the Andalusian Housing and Rehabilitation Agency (AVRA) was recognized for an energy rehabilitation project in 523 public housing units in ten municipalities across seven provinces; the comprehensive renovation of the cold production plant at the Virgen del Rocío University Hospital in Seville; and the Malaga Provincial Council for the BIO+A MALAGA project promoting sustainable forest management by protecting ecosystems and utilizing biomass.
In total, four award-winning projects and three honorable mentions have recognized public and private initiatives distinguished for their push towards a competitive, fair, sustainable, and participatory energy transition that combines innovation, business leadership, institutional commitment, and citizen participation, marking the culmination of the XXV Assembly of the Spanish Energy Management Agencies Association (EnerAgen), held in Seville, where the Andalusian Energy Agency officially assumed the presidency.
Minister Jorge Paradela acknowledged the importance of these national energy awards and highlighted the role of the agencies and the awarded projects presented at this edition. «Each of these initiatives contributes to transitioning along this path of energy model change that we face in Andalusia as a major challenge, but also as a great opportunity for innovation and the reindustrialization of our productive structure, job creation, and economic growth,» he stated.
In this regard, he explained to attendees that Andalusia works with the conviction that the community can play a prominent role in decarbonizing the economy, «because we have a vast potential of renewable energy resources and the necessary capabilities for it, as we have a specialized and committed business fabric; and on the part of the regional administration, we are working to facilitate its development.»
Minister Jorge Paradela presents the award for ‘Best Private Initiative (SME) for the energy transition’ to the company Systemfoc and the Ceramic Technology Institute (ITC) of Castellón.
A total of 52 applications were eligible for these awards from all over Spain under the criteria of innovation, social and environmental impact, creativity, and replicability potential. In the Andalusian case, 16 projects were received and examined by the Andalusian Energy Agency. Of the selected Andalusian projects, three received awards and honorable mentions in this edition.
The Minister of Industry, Energy, and Mines was responsible for presenting the award for the ‘Best Private Initiative (SME) for the energy transition‘ jointly promoted by the company Systemfoc and the Ceramic Technology Institute (ITC) of Castellón, for the first ceramic electric furnace for industry decarbonization. The award was received by the General Manager of ITC, Yolanda Reig, accompanied by the Director General of Energy and Mines of the Valencian Community, Manuel Argüelles.
In the category of ‘Best Public Initiative‘, the award went to the Andalusian Housing and Rehabilitation Agency (AVRA) for its energy rehabilitation project in 523 public housing units located in ten municipalities across seven provinces, funded by FEDER 2021-2027. The award was presented to its General Manager, Susana Cayuelas, accompanied by Francisco Javier Vidal, Vice President of the Cadiz Provincial Council, by Natalia Márquez, General Manager of the Andalusian Energy Agency and President of EnerAgen.
In this category, the quality of two other Andalusian projects was recognized with honorable mentions. On one hand, the Virgen del Rocío University Hospital, for the comprehensive renovation of the cold production plant with magnetic levitation technology funded by FEDER; and the Malaga Provincial Council for the BIO+A MALAGA project promoting sustainable forest management by enhancing biodiversity, protecting ecosystems, and utilizing biomass, funded under the Recovery, Transformation, and Resilience Plan.
The award for the ‘Best Initiative in Education, Awareness, and Dissemination‘ was granted to the Galician Technological Institute for CELRURAL, their pilot project of rural energy communities in the POCTEP area with a deeply educational and participatory approach that combines the implementation of renewable infrastructure with technical training, citizen empowerment, and knowledge dissemination. The award was received by Santiago Rodríguez, Director of the Intelligent Energy Division, accompanied by Maite Méndez from the Energy Transition Office of the A Coruña Provincial Council and presented by Ana Jauregui, Manager of the Real Alcázar and on behalf of the jury. An honorable mention was given to the ‘Citizen Lab’ initiative from the Polytechnic University of Madrid, where science, creativity, and energy have come together to transform the future.
Minister of Industry, Energy, and Mines of the Junta de Andalucía, Jorge Paradela, with the General Manager of the Andalusian Energy Agency, Natalia Márquez, during the award ceremony of the EnerAgen 2025 Awards.
Finally, in the category of ‘Energy Communities‘, the General Manager of EFIDUERO ENERGY SCEL – Energy for the People, José Luis Pascual, accompanied by Ricardo González-Mantero from the Regional Energy Entity of Castilla y León, was responsible for receiving the award from Ignacio Gistas, Head of the Southern Transport Demarcation of Red Eléctrica de España, the event’s sponsor, for establishing a pioneering model of citizen energy community in the rural cross-border area between Spain and Portugal, bringing together 77 municipalities with over 200 collective self-consumption installations and 30 charging points in rural municipalities.
Goals to position EnerAgen
On the other hand, the General Manager of the Andalusian Energy Agency, Natalia Márquez, emphasized the beginning of a stage in which the Andalusian entity, at the helm of the presidency of the energy agencies of Spain, aims to focus on internationalization, strategic collaboration among them, and the growth of what is the main instrument of coordination and cooperation between energy agencies and public bodies in Spain with competencies in the management and implementation of energy policies in various territorial and competence areas.
Natalia Márquez, already president of EnerAgen, expressed Andalusia’s commitment to this new responsibility. «We want to be useful to the members and we aspire to make the association a reference entity in the national and international energy field because energy agencies must be real instruments of social transformation, beyond the management of grants,» she stated during her speech, defending the pivotal role of these entities in the energy transition.
To achieve this, she announced the development of a Strategic Plan in the next quarter that will be the result of cooperation among agencies and will clearly respond to their needs, where the Andalusian presidency, in addition to the national drive to the association with the inclusion of new partners, aims to project EnerAgen in the European arena.
