• Nortegas and the Bilbao School of Engineering have had this partnership agreement in place for 10 years now to drive research, development and innovation in the gas sector.
• The projects have studied uses for biomethane, analysed injecting H2 in gas distribution networks and optimising efficiency of natural gas filling stations.
• Thanks to Aula Nortegas [the Nortegas Learning Centre], different Nortegas professionals mentor and advise students on how to approach and develop the selected project during the academic year.

Nortegas, the second gas distributor nationwide, hosted the presentation on 15 September of the End-of-Master Projects by the students at the School who studied for the Master’s Degree in Industrial Engineering of Sustainable Energy Engineering during the 2019/2020 academic year. The event is part of the Aula Nortegas project, where the company works with the Bilbao School of Engineering to develop young talent on an ongoing basis.

After the projects were selected on 8 October last year, the Nortegas team mentored and advised students on the master’s degree throughout the academic year as it oversaw the development of the work. The young people thus benefitted from the experience of professionals with extensive know-how in the gas sector.

During the session, which was conducted in-person and virtually, the students presented their projects to the Bilbao School of Engineering academic staff and the key managers of the Nortegas business areas involved in each project’s theme. The first project presented was the analysis of the feasibility of a biomethane liquefaction plant; followed by studying the alternatives for harnessing CO2 in the biomethane upgrading process (procedure to extract the CO2 from the biogas to convert it into biomethane that can be used to generate power). A pilot project to inject H2 at 10% into the natural gas distribution network for the University of the Basque Country’s Leioa Campus was then showcased. The final project was to create a design tool aimed at great efficiency in projecting natural gas filling stations.

Thanks to the Aula Nortegas initiative, the distributor has been offering students at the Bilbao School of Engineering the opportunity to develop an innovative project with professionals working in the sector for 10 years now. Fifty-three projects, several of which have gained international acclaim, have been implemented over that decade.

This university-company partnership model, which has been recognised internationally, reaffirms Nortegas’s commitment to young talent and the future of gas in the energy sector. Paula Gata, in charge of Aula-Nortegas, stressed: “each year, we have the chance to guide and mentor students working on innovative projects where we contribute our professional experience and the students offer us very interesting and novel points of view. During the last academic year, the students had to work under exceptional circumstances and their efforts have been reflected in the extraordinary quality of the projects submitted”. Jokin Gorozika,  Aula Nortegas Director representing Bilbao School of Engineering, pointed out that “our 10-year partnership with Nortegas has meant that students have been able to work with professionals from the energy sector who can clarify any of the students’ doubts and offer them a truly practical perspective of the sector” and added that “looking back over those ten years, a real evolution can be seen in the goals of the projects, which are being developed with real implementation possibilities”.