The new Secretary General for Industry and SMEs, Francisco Blanco from Gijón, announced yesterday at a meeting organized by LA NUEVA ESPAÑA –sponsored by Idepa and the Siero City Council– that the Ministry of Industry had already notified the European Commission on Thursday the final request for help from ArcelorMittal to address the production of green steel in Asturias, a key project for the survival of the steel industry in the region with a cost of more than 1,000 million. Blanco revealed that the aid will be “close to 60%” of the investment, therefore well above the 450 million reserved in the decarbonization PERTE, an item that Industry has promised to increase if necessary.
Blanco explained that the negotiation with the European Commission, once the Competition obstacle has been overcome, has two phases. “The first was what is called the pre-notification, a kind of prior negotiation in which the project is explained and in which Arcelor justifies the deficit that it is going to have and for which it requests the aid. That pre-notification is done and the amounts more or less agreed. So what the Commission told us is that we notify the second phase, which is more formal. We made the notification yesterday (by Thursday) and except for something very rare, it will arrive shortly, “explained Blanco, who He pointed out that “the intensity of the aid is very large and is closer to 60 than 50%.”
Blanco gave a talk entitled “Asturias, an industrial revolution?” in which he highlighted the opportunities that open up for the region if it becomes “a hydrogen energy pole”, a possibility that opens up with the massive supply of renewable gas for the manufacture of green steel and that “will allow the region to have a competitive advantage over others”.
The new General Secretary for Industry –who was introduced by the General Director of LA NUEVA ESPAÑA, Ángeles Rivero, and then held a discussion with leaders of the business associations FADE, Femetal, Pymar and Aefas– began his presentation with a didactic tone, typical of from his time as a teacher, justifying the title of the talk. He pointed out that it is possible to speak of a new industrial revolution because, as in the first one, there is a use of new energies (now renewables); as in the second there is an advance in the automation of processes (with robotics), and as in the third revolution there is progress in information technology (with artificial intelligence). “This generates social and geopolitical changes,” he stressed.
On the geopolitical table, the Gijon-born economist highlighted the struggle for hegemony between the United States and China, which has led to a technological struggle that requires a strong industrial base. There he located the strong aid from the US to his industry in response to inflation. “It has become protectionist when it sees its hegemony threatened,” said Blanco, who added that in this scenario “Europe is not fighting for hegemony, it is fighting for its autonomy” and that “it has been forced to react with more aid for its industry ” with the danger of “breaking the internal market”.
In the new scenario, Spain has “advantages” according to Blanco due to its potential in renewable energy, “because it has wind, sun and soil”; because of its location next to North Africa where hydrogen could be produced for Europe, and because it is the second EU country that has benefited the most from recovery funds. And within Spain, Asturias. “Here there was coal and not iron and the steel industry grew. Now the availability of hydrogen can be the driving force,” said Blanco. “We have to take advantage of the opportunity,” he added after highlighting that the renewable energy industry is no stranger to Asturian companies such as Duro, TSK or Gondán.