Promote research activities, carry out training sessions and raise awareness among students and the society of Cádiz about the energy transition and ESG management (Environment, Sustainability and Good Governance). These are the objectives of the EDP Chair - "Energía Los Barrios" of the UCA, which was presented today at the School of Engineering of Algeciras by the Rector of the University of Cadiz, Francisco Piniella, the Mayor of Los Barrios, Miguel Alconchel, and the Director of Sustainability EDP Spain, María Casares.

This new Chair has an initial term of three years, which can be extended, will have a minimum annual funding of 15,000 euros and will have a mixed committee, made up of people from the university and EDP, which will be the body responsible for promoting the different activities planned: research, conferences for students and society in general, etc.

With the creation of this university chair, EDP also aims to support young people in the study of subjects related to the energy sector and to promote the study of technological careers (STEM) with the potential for local employability and population fixation. In addition, the company also wants to support diversity and equality.

The Algeciras Bay Campus in Algeciras, where it has been presented, will host next October one of the most outstanding initiatives of the new chair, the EDP Energy Seminar. This initiative, which will take place at the School of Engineering of Algeciras, will have experts in the field to, through lectures and presentations, address various issues related to the energy sector and its entire value chain, focusing on aspects such as innovation, regulation, talent and sustainability.

In the words of the Rector of the University of Cadiz, Francisco Piniella, who highlighted the excellent relations with EDP and thanked it for its "trust in the UCA", this new Chair "joins the network of more than 15 UCA Chairs. It is - he explained - one of the most deeply rooted and consistent lines of action in our University when it comes to establishing synergies with companies and socio-economic agents of the environment. With them, we work à la carte, responding to the specialised training, research and R&D&I needs of companies. We want to be a university that is useful to the environment. It is in our DNA and in our concept of corporate social responsibility". At the same time, he assured that "we are going to strengthen a line of collaboration in a field, that of energy sustainability, where the UCA, this Campus and the ETSI of Algeciras are a reference in teaching, research and transfer, as shown by the Master in Renewable Energies and Energy Efficiency, taught here, in the ETSI of Algeciras".

The Mayor of Los Barrios, Miguel Alconchel, said: "My thanks to EDP and the University of Cadiz for setting up this chair. The company, which has just landed in our region, is already demonstrating its commitment to the territory. I believe that this training is of vital importance in such an important subject with such a future in Campo de Gibraltar as the energy transition. The objective of companies and public administrations, such as the town council and the university, must be to make the most of the talent that exists. Therefore, my thanks once again to EDP for its social commitment to the municipality and the region".

For her part, the Director of Sustainability of EDP Spain, María Casares, pointed out that "this agreement responds to EDP's firm commitment to the communities where it operates, as is the case of Los Barrios and Campo de Gibraltar, in the same way that it will promote awareness of the energy transition that we are experiencing and that at EDP we are clear that the objective is to leave no one behind".