On June 13th, the Georgetown Club of Spain held another meeting of the Leadership Series about Perspectives on Talent and Competitiveness in Spain. On this occasion, the topic was Energy. We had the privilege to welcome José D. Bogas, CEO of Endesa, to a private exclusive breakfast.

Endesa is the leading company in the Spanish electricity sector and the second biggest operator in the electricity market in Portugal, with around 10 thousand employees and serving more than 10m customers. Endesa is one of Spain’s largest companies and is one of 35 publicly listed companies on Spain’s main Stock Exchange, the IBEX 35.

Mr. Bogas is one of the most relevant leaders of our country and a clear reference in the energy sector, with a very long career in leading positions. He has received multiple awards for his professional achievements.

Mr. Bogas shared with us some of his best leadership and career advice based on a lifetime of experience, and gave us invaluable insights on the past, current and future energy prospects at the global, European and national level.

Mr. Bogas highlighted the importance of decarbonization and competitiveness for European firms, while considering the low energy costs in the United States in comparison with Europe, and at the same time emphasizing Spain’s successes in developing this sector in the last decades, going from a country with high energy prices to currently being very close to France’s prices and even cheaper than Germany. Mr. Bogas also stressed the need for greater alignment between the public administration and the private sector in order to generate additional incentives for new business investments in Spain.

In the current context, where Europe is technologically behind the United States and China in certain key areas, Mr. Bogas supports Europe’s sustainability and green energy goals. Some of these include the promotion of renewable energy, digitalization, electrification of demand and energy efficiency, while also assuring reliability in the energy networks and keeping existing nuclear facilities while reaching full decarbonization.

The former is a very simplistic extract. Mr. Bogas led a comprehensive analysis of the energy sector, combining strategic, technical, regulatory and political elements. Last but not least, Mr. Bogas was amazing and very entertaining. Time flew by.

It was a real privilege for all attendees to listen to Mr. Bogas´ insights on important and complex issues in such a clear and concise manner. We also had the opportunity to share ideas and to ask questions in a casual and open atmosphere to one of the most prominent leaders we have ever had. It was indeed an unforgettable morning.

Thank you, Mr. Bogas, and the ENDESA team, for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!!!