Vidrala today welcomed the Lehendakari of the Basque Government, Imanol Pradales, and the Deputy Regional Ministers for Energy Transition, Iranzu Allende, and Industrial Promotion, Andoitz Korta, to its corporate headquarters in Llodio, where they toured the new production facilities at the Llodio plant. The Chairman of Vidrala, Carlos Delclaux, and the CEO of the Group, Raúl Gómez, explained to the institutional delegation that the new Aiala Vidrio furnace is synonymous with the future both for the Company and for the province of Álava, where the glassworks was founded 60 years ago.
‘Today, from our decision centre in Llodio, we lead a group that produces more than 9,000 million glass containers a year, a benchmark in the global glass industry, leader in the Iberian Peninsula, with a strong export character to France and Germany, leader in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and an important player in South America through our entry into Brazil’, stressed the president. For his part, Raúl Gómez pointed out: ‘Despite the difficult and uncertain context in which Basque industry finds itself, exacerbated by the prolonged electricity disruption on Monday, Vidrala has decided to reactivate investments in the Llodio plant that exceed 75 million euros. But the success of this commitment requires two key factors: a good social climate and the support of the institutions. Only together will we guarantee a future for Vidrala in Llodio’.
Led by Víctor Tolosa, Director of the Vidrala Europe business division, the visit to the facilities focused on the technological advances that the Company is implementing in key areas such as energy efficiency, decarbonisation, process digitalisation and equipment safety. The tour culminated with the iconic commissioning of the new Aiala Vidrio furnace, a key infrastructure in Vidrala's industrial strategy and an investment that reinforces the Group's commitment to its Llodio plant and to the economic development of the region. The new furnace, equipped with state-of-the-art technology, will improve the energy efficiency of the process, reduce emissions and increase production capacity, guaranteeing the plant's competitiveness in the long term.
After visiting the new facilities, the Lehendakari Imanol Pradales said: ‘We must encourage and support the decarbonisation of energy-intensive industrial sectors, which are vulnerable to fluctuations in the price of fossil fuels. The Basque institutions as a whole are doing this: improving the tax incentive package for companies that invest in energy transition, allocating direct and specific aid, and promoting driving projects such as the Basque Hydrogen Corridor, one of whose actions will consist precisely of building a 70-kilometre hydroduct between the Port of Bilbao and Aiaraldea in order to transport green hydrogen for the industrial fabric of this region’.
The institutional visit reaffirms Vidrala's role as one of the major industrial benchmarks in the Basque Country, with a constant commitment to innovation, territorial roots and long-term sustainability.
