In the heart of the Gorbea massif, in the municipality of Zeanuri (Vizcaya), lies the Barázar underground hydroelectric power plant. This facility uses water from the Urrunaga reservoir, located in Álava, and supplies a large part of the consumers in the metropolitan area of Bilbao.

To access the Barazar power plant, which has a head of 330.3 meters, a tunnel was built where supersulphated cement was used for the first time in Spain to protect the structure from the influence of gypsum, which is harmful to the conservation of hydraulic works. The hydroelectric power station was commissioned in 1957 and has an installed capacity of 84.32 MW.

Iberdrola's Global Smart Grids Innovation Hub, located in Bilbao, is a global 1000 m2 centre of innovation and knowledge in smart grids to help respond to the challenges of the energy transition. The centre acts as a driving force for innovation, combining Iberdrola's technological capacity with that of more than 100 collaborating entities and companies offering opportunities to students and preparing the professionals of the future.

The initiative brings together the innovative potential of more than 200 professionals in the development of R&D&I projects related to the challenges of the electricity grids of the future, including greater digitalisation, the processing of the data generated by these infrastructures and the response, in terms of robustness and flexibility, of the electricity grid to new consumption models, such as electric mobility and self-consumption.

The centre, containing six laboratories for testing and speeding up developments, is established as a market-oriented collaborative technology space, where the best international talent will always be in contact with suppliers, start-ups and universities to stimulate their industrial capacity and accelerate innovation processes.