MUBIL Center official opening

The Gipuzkoa Provincial Council, the Basque Government and other institutions celebrated the opening of the MUBIL Center.

MUBIL Center opens its doors and projects Gipuzkoa as a European innovation node in smart and sustainable mobility.
MUBIL Center will host 8 companies and 2 technology managers. A total of 80 professionals will work in situ on the development of innovative solutions for smart and sustainable mobility. The inauguration will mark the start of an intense agenda of strategic activities designed to generate new business opportunities and boost job creation in a key sector with great future prospects.

MUBIL Center has officially opened today its facilities in Eskuzaitzeta (Donostia), with the aim of leading the future of smart and sustainable mobility, consolidating Gipuzkoa and the Basque Country as a European benchmark in research, development and innovation in smart and sustainable mobility.

The opening ceremony was presided over by the Lehendakari Imanol Pradales, together with the Deputy General of Gipuzkoa, Eider Mendoza, the Deputy for Economic Promotion and Strategic Projects, Unai Andueza, and the Director General of MUBIL Fundazioa, Igor Villarreal. The event brought together an outstanding institutional representation from Gipuzkoa and the Basque Country, as well as the main players in the mobility sector, including companies, business associations, universities and leading technology centres.

The day began with an institutional act that highlighted the strategic importance of the MUBIL Center, followed by a guided tour in which the attendees learned first-hand about the operation of its three laboratories and the unique capabilities of the centre.

The Basque Prime Minister, Imanol Pradales, stressed that ‘this is a country project that reflects the Basque Country's ambition to be in pole position in European reindustrialisation, and more specifically, in terms of intelligent and sustainable mobility’. ‘MUBIL is a cutting-edge infrastructure with advanced laboratories for the development of key technologies such as electromobility and the digitisation of transport,’ said the Lehendakari, adding that the new centre is also a ‘clear example’ of the Basque Country's energy transition.

Unique in Europe: MUBIL Center brings together unprecedented technological and innovative capabilities to lead the future of mobility.
The 48,000m2 plot of land in Eskutzaietza (Donostia) will house part of the MUBIL mobility ecosystem. Of this surface area, 9,700m2 have been allocated to the new MUBIL Center technological infrastructure which, with an investment of 25 million euros, has been designed to promote the development, validation and certification of advanced mobility solutions.

The facility houses three test laboratories which, together with the ecosystem created around the MUBIL Center, brings together a concentration of knowledge and testing and innovation capabilities that is unique in Europe:

• Electrical storage laboratory: to test cells, modules and battery systems under the most demanding safety and reliability standards.
• Electric traction laboratory: for testing motor, inverter and transmission systems for the automotive and heavy transport sectors.
• Hydrogen cell laboratory: infrastructure dedicated to the testing and validation of hydrogen-based electricity generation systems.

During the visit, the attendees were able to learn about the activity of these laboratories, demonstrating the technological capabilities of a centre that stands out as a strategic driver of innovation for the region.

The deputy general of Gipuzkoa, Eider Mendoza, defined MUBIL as an ‘industrial commitment’ for ‘the present and the future’ of the economy and for the competitiveness of Gipuzkoa's business fabric, which she defined as ‘a real driving force for quality employment and well-being’ within society. "In times of transformation, uncertainty and instability such as the present, protecting and supporting our industry, our companies, is vital for our territory. Being at the forefront, making our mark is the best way to protect our industry, to contribute in this way to the competitiveness of our companies, even more so in a sector as important, as important and as far-reaching as mobility," he said.

Mendoza recalled that the opening of MUBIL represents the materialisation of one of the ‘centres of reference, specialisation and collaboration’ designed by the Provincial Council to face the social and economic transformations of our time. It is, he added, a ‘differential infrastructure’ for testing and innovation ‘at the service’ of companies and technology centres in the territory and the country. ‘We must make progress in sustainable and intelligent mobility’, because it is a “fundamental” area for the decarbonisation of our society and for the ‘well-being’ of society as a whole, which, he said, represents ‘new areas of opportunity’ for our economy. However, he advocated doing it ‘all together, with a firm step’, multiplying the ‘collaboration’ of all the agents, institutions and companies involved. ‘So that the industrial ecosystem linked to mobility grows in our territory and in our country, to continue generating exciting projects for companies and people, so that Gipuzkoa continues to be a territory that offers opportunities and wellbeing to everyone’, he added.

An open innovation ecosystem that connects talent, technology and the future.
MUBIL is configured as a true open innovation ecosystem, offering a collaborative environment that will drive startups, SMEs and large companies in the development of smart and sustainable mobility solutions. Its facilities will host companies such as Battera, Lazpiur, NX, Wattson, Battbelt, Veltium, AVL, Novac as well as technology managers Cidetec and EPower Labs, bringing together a team of 80 professionals who will work on site.

This innovative core will be joined by the transfer of the mobility R&D units of the Vicomtech, Cidetec and Tecnalia technology centres to Eskuzaitzeta, thus reinforcing Gipuzkoa's position as a European benchmark in technological capabilities and innovation in the field of mobility.
Since its conception in 2018, the MUBIL project has had a clear objective: to anticipate the new dynamics of mobility, generate high added value employment and strengthen Gipuzkoa's competitive positioning in a strategic area of the future.

As stated by Unai Andueza, Deputy for Economic Promotion and Strategic Projects of the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa, "Today we are inaugurating the fruit of a shared vision, in which each agent has contributed their talent, knowledge and commitment to shape a key sector for the future. This is not the end of a project, but the starting point of a path that we are already travelling together. A future that stems from the strategy of anticipation that we have been promoting for years in the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa, with the aim of generating new economies and, at the same time, strengthening the solidity of our business fabric. We are talking about a dynamic ecosystem, capable of adapting to the needs of the companies that make up the value chain of the mobility sector, and which will allow us to create new business opportunities, building a more competitive economy day by day, generating well-being and a brighter future".

A strategic agenda that gets off to a strong start
The inauguration of the MUBIL Center also marks the start of an intense agenda of activities that will drive innovation, create opportunities and attract international projects and investment.

The Official Presentation of the Sustainable Mobility Research Agenda, led by the Basque Research & Technology Alliance (BRTA), will be held on 23 May. Just a few days later, on 29 May, an international event will take place, the Mubil Lab Experience, a technical meeting that will bring together major international companies to share their developments and strategies in the sector. In June, MUBIL will host the electric charging sector forum and on 12 June it will inaugurate the MUBIL City Science Experience, a project in collaboration with MIT based on the collection and analysis of mobility data in Gipuzkoa. July will see a key milestone with the constitution of the Mobility Business Advisory Committee, which will guide the centre's priorities and strategic lines.

Throughout the last quarter of the year, MUBIL will continue to promote actions and events that will strengthen the positioning of Gipuzkoa as a territory that creates opportunities and a strategic node in the field of sustainable mobility.

Gipuzkoa and the Basque Country towards a smart, sustainable and global mobility model
MUBIL Center represents the perfect combination between the innovative capacity and the industrial strength of the territory. A strategic infrastructure that will allow the territory not only to face the challenges of future mobility, but also to lead its development at European level.

With this commitment, Gipuzkoa strengthens its role as one of the main innovation poles in smart and sustainable mobility in Europe, creating new economic and social opportunities on the road to a more advanced society with greater welfare.

 

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