At the Future Energy Summit Iberia 2025 (FES Iberia), Germán Albarrán Izquierdo, Energy Business Director at INCOSA, presented the company’s vision on the structural role of engineering in advancing renewable energy, stabilizing power systems, and maximizing industrial project efficiency.

“My goal is to highlight the essential role engineering plays as a lever for a sustainable energy transition,” Albarrán began, addressing a highly technical audience.

INCOSA, an engineering company with over 40 years of experience, operates with a team of more than 600 professionals across 10 offices in Spain and several branches throughout Latin America, some with more than two decades of presence. The company serves six business verticals, with the energy sector currently representing its largest share of revenue.

“We work across three pillars: renewable electricity generation, power transmission and distribution, and industrial Power2X projects, in which we strongly believe,” explains Albarrán. Notably, INCOSA is Spain’s main engineering provider for Red Eléctrica, underscoring its critical role in grid infrastructure.

Demand, Storage, and Competitiveness: Conditions for a Real Transition

Albarrán stressed the need for the energy transition to prioritize not only generation but also stable demand and efficient storage solutions.

“Storage is the trending topic this year, and demand was last year’s. I believe both should remain at the center, because without demand, production makes no sense,” he emphasizes.

He also highlighted the energy cost gap between Spain and other European countries. “Currently, Spanish industrial consumers pay 1.4 times more for electricity than Germans and 2.8 times more than the French,” he points out, referencing figures from the Spanish Association of Large Energy Consumers. These disparities —he warns— threaten Spain’s reindustrialization goals.

Digitalization: From Engineering Design to Asset Maintenance

A major focus of INCOSA’s strategy is the digitalization of energy assets. The company employs BIM modeling from the earliest project stages to enhance accuracy, cost control, and lifecycle management.

“This is no longer about the future — it’s the present,” says Albarrán. “We designed a 34.5 to 230 kV step-up substation entirely in BIM, from scratch. This reduces errors, improves timelines and costs, and provides full control over asset maintenance.”

The digital model integrates technical, financial, and maintenance data. “You can click on any component and view its full operational history, from design to performance,” he adds.

Grid Stability: Engineering with Synchronous Generators

To address challenges posed by non-synchronous renewable generation, INCOSA integrates synchronous machines into its designs. Albarrán showcased a 110 MW wind farm coupled with a 125 MW synchronous generator to tackle grid inertia and frequency regulation issues.

“Yes, it increases CAPEX, but it also enables us to identify previously unavailable nodal capacity, meet grid codes, and participate in ancillary services,” he explains. This, he argues, reinforces engineering’s role as a strategic discipline, not just an execution tool.

Green Hydrogen: Hybrid Technologies to Overcome Uncertainty

Albarrán also presented a 150 MW green hydrogen plant where hydrogen is delivered directly to the off-taker. Due to uncertainty around the dominant future technology, INCOSA opted to hybridize alkaline and PEM electrolysis systems.

“Alkaline systems are cheaper and more robust, but PEM offers better adaptability to renewable variability and higher purity. We don’t want to lock into one technology,” he says.

The challenge was integrating both systems. “Alkaline outputs hydrogen at 16 bar and PEM at 30, so we implemented a pressure compensation system to deliver at a unified pressure,” he adds.

Advanced Electrical Studies: Software-Driven Design for Reliable Projects

Finally, Albarrán underlined the importance of using advanced software for electrical modeling. These tools simulate plant and grid behavior under various operational and fault scenarios, reducing risks and optimizing design.

“This helps eliminate uncertainties, improves equipment sizing, and avoids penalties from reactive power injection,” he explains. INCOSA has conducted dozens of these studies for generation and interconnection projects.

Purpose-Driven Engineering

The keynote closed with a call to recognize engineering as a catalyst for efficiency, sustainability, and economic value in the energy sector.

“Engineering shouldn’t just be seen as project execution. It’s a strategic discipline to guide better decisions and help energy projects meet their sustainability goals,” Albarrán concludes, receiving strong applause from a technically engaged audience.