A company’s ability to adapt in a constantly evolving world is essential for its success. While this may be an apparently evident maxim, the question is how organizations achieve this responsiveness. The answer is skilled human resources.
In reality, continuous investment in talent triggers a snowball effect in a company’s success cycle. By attracting and nurturing exceptional talent, organizations are capable of conceiving and creating innovative products that make a difference in the market. These innovations not only win customer preferences but also ensure constant profit growth. With increasing revenues, companies can reward their employees satisfactorily, attract more intellectual capital, and reinvest in further research. This virtuous cycle not only increases the company’s wealth but also strengthens its ability to stay ahead of the competition and continue to create solutions that shape the future.
Voltalia operates in the international renewable energy market as a power producer and service provider, on a multi-technology basis: solar, wind, biomass, hydro, and storage.
One of the world’s leading players in renewable energy, the French company Voltalia has been betting on this formula to develop its business, having created a Center of Expertise (CoE), a center of engineering competence and specialized “know-how” that allows it to not only be attentive to the needs of customers but also enables it to develop value-added solutions.
Four innovation hubs
The most interesting aspect of Voltalia’s case study is that this CoE consists of four innovation hubs, located in different cities and countries: Porto and Oliveira de Frades (Portugal), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), and Aix-en-Provence (France). In other words, two of these four units are located in Portuguese territory, which serves as the “brain” of the solar business competence center.
In Brazil, Voltalia has established its center of excellence for wind energy, and in France, the centers for hydroelectric and biomass energy are situated.
Whenever a new project begins in each of these areas, all groups turn to these centers of excellence for technological and engineering development, as they are the centralized source of fundamental and strategic technological knowledge.
In addition to these four major areas (solar, wind, hydro, and biomass), Voltalia also develops the storage, hybrid, and renewable gases aspects, seeking to replace fossil fuels with renewable energy alternatives, such as solar photovoltaic technologies.
In August 2016, the Voltalia Group entered Portugal through the acquisition of Martifer Solar, gaining greater international visibility and, above all, enriching internal competencies in the solar sector.
These innovation hubs that make up the CoE represent a strategic investment, being one of the “secrets” for Voltalia’s significant growth in the renewable energy field worldwide (with a presence in over 20 countries on four continents), delivering quality products and services with in-house engineering.
The Portuguese case
Looking at the Portuguese case, Voltalia has its photovoltaic headquarters in Porto (Solar Hub), specifically located on Avenida Marechal Gomes da Costa, between the Boavista and Foz do Douro areas, where it has approximately 1,300 square meters of space. This solar center of excellence, which has been in operation since May 2019, also houses the supervision and monitoring area for existing renewable assets (solar, biomass, and storage facilities).
In addition to the qualified workforce in our country, the choice of Portugal for Voltalia’s Solar Hub, and specifically in the northern region of the country, was also related to the acquisition of 100% of Martifer Solar by Voltalia in August 2016.
Voltalia Academy
In coordination with the hub in Porto, which houses the Voltalia Academy, where the group trains and develops new talents, there is a technological campus in Oliveira de Frades, in the Viseu district, which allows the installation and testing of equipment, benefiting from its geographical proximity to the academy, especially with the University and the Polytechnic of Porto, which are about 90 km away. The Photovoltaic Technology Campus was built in Oliveira de Frades between 2009 and 2015 and is where Voltalia formally has its headquarters.
For Voltalia, Portugal also holds a strategic position to support solar projects in the African continent and Latin America, through the development of projects and the provision of EPC (Engineering, Procurement & Construction) and O&M (Operation and Maintenance) services.
In summary, in practical terms, Voltalia Portugal, and specifically the hub in Porto, serves as the base for the solar segment for the entire international group, functioning as a platform where all subsidiaries connect with solar projects.
As the world seeks to decarbonize in various areas, it is clear that many decisions for the development and investment in clean technologies that are implemented worldwide pass through our country. And perhaps not everyone knows that!
