Industry Competitiveness: Geopolitics and Energy Transition
In the wake of the humanitarian drama in Ukraine, geopolitics and energy have now become one of our main concerns. Today, we are reminded of Stefan Zweig’s words about the end of the world of yesterday and the dawn of a new, uncertain era. Europe has been baffled by its vulnerability in terms of geopolitics, energy and other critical commodities.
The Energy Transition was already a real force in global geopolitics for technological and industrial leadership, but must now address security of supply and competitiveness. In both cases, the Energy Transition can help, but must urgently be handled from scientific, techno-industrial and mining perspectives, all of which have been overlooked to some extent.
The first session will focus on industry and its competitiveness in the new geopolitical and energy context. According to Eurostat, industry accounts for 16.3% of Spanish GDP, compared to 17.6% in the EU and 23.6% in Germany. At the same time, an intra-European shift towards a New Hanseatic League is taking place to the detriment of Southern EU countries.
In the second session, potential evolution of the competitiveness of Spanish industry over the medium term (2025-2030) will be analyzed according to potential frameworks for the evolution of prices of CO2, natural gas and electricity, as well as new energy vectors such as hydrogen. This competitiveness will be analyzed by taking into account the different markets where our industry competes, many of which are expected to have lower energy and CO2 costs than those anticipated in Europe. Finally, we will assess the impact our competitiveness could have on import and export flows, as well as the location of industrial plants.
Will the pre-COVID normal situation return to sophisticated supply chains? When will shipping logistics go back to normal? Will natural gas and oil prices return to the level enjoyed by the world since 2014? How does all this impact Spanish industry, especially energy-intensive industry? All these topics will be discussed and debated during the two sessions on Industry Competitiveness.
