The Spanish Nuclear Group for Cooperation: A Story of Success
- Autores: Carmelo Palacios
- Localización: Nuclear España: Revista de la Sociedad Nuclear española, ISSN 1137-2885, Nº. 343, 2013, págs. 21-26
- Idioma: inglés
- Enlaces
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Resumen
The SNGC (Spanish Nuclear Group for Cooperation) is an alliance founded in 2006 for commercial cooperation between Spanish nuclear companies in order to join efforts for the commercial promotion in the Chinese market. This alliance was originally formed by Enusa Industrias Avanzadas S.A. (ENUSA), Tecnatom S.A. and Equipos Nucleares S.A. (ENSA). In 2008 Ringo Válvulas S.L. joined the alliance, and in July 2008 the Nuclear Group for China AIE was incorporated with each of the four companies holding a 25% share. Subsequently, as explained below, the legal name was changed to Spanish Nuclear Group for Cooperation AIE and the trade name of Spanish Nuclear Group/China was maintained as a brand for activities in this country.
Spanish companies that manufacture nuclear equipment and have synergic activities are represented in the SNGC and this is why they are interested in taking part in it.
The SNGC is open to temporary or permanent collaborative initiatives with other Spanish companies in the nuclear sector, whether or not they are equipment manufacturers, to boost the Spanish nuclear industry’s presence in China or other emerging countries.
Its incorporation in July 2008 was motivated by the expectations for strong growth presented by the Chinese market (which is in the lead of the worldwide nuclear renaissance, as China has 17 operating nuclear power plants, more than 27 under construction and others in the design phase, and the country currently shows a need for this energy to be able to maintain its long-term industrial capacity; around 58 reactors will be operative in 2020 and 31 will be under construction that year), as well as by the experience that some of the partners had at that time in supplying equipment and technology to this market.
In this context, the SNGC partners have important synergies thanks to the fact that their product and service portfolios complement each other and to the previous successful experiences in specific collaborations between them on both the national and international markets.
With the creation of this consortium, these four Spanish companies aim to develop and secure their business internationally, primarily in a constantly growing market of great strategic importance such as China. The consortium enables the partners to optimize their commercial efforts and complement their product and service offerings so as to provide their clients with more integrated, competitive products and services. In addition, it has helped consolidate the Spanish companies that are members of SNGC AIE as a substantial group in the global nuclear industry. Another very important point that was considered is market size and the fact that the corporate group would help achieve a critical mass that would make the partners visible both to potential customers and to the Spanish Administration.
Spanish nuclear companies have been operating in the Chinese market for 25 years, ever since they first attended the Beijing Nuclear Trade Show in 1987. This event ended with a fantastic trip inside China that we will remember all our lives and that was organized by the Chinese Nuclear Society, with visits to the nuclear facilities in Xian, Sichuan and Shanghai.
By 1989, the Spanish nuclear companies were separately offering in China the following goods and services: operator training, steam generators, fuel transport casks, valves, irradiated fuel pool storage racks, heat exchangers, control rooms and their simulations, pre-service and in-service reactor inspections, fuel inspection equipment, etc.
After all those years, the four Spanish nuclear companies decided in 2006 to join efforts to, first of all, jointly approach the Chinese market (Spanish Nuclear Group for China) and later the group was expanded to other countries and was renamed Spanish Nuclear Group for Cooperation.
