The President of the Parliament of Catalonia, Josep Rull, visited today Eurecat’s headquarters in Cerdanyola, accompanied by the President of the technology centre, Daniel Altimiras, and its Chief Officer, Xavier López, where he had the opportunity to learn about Eurecat’s laboratories for the development of cutting-edge solutions in areas such as intelligent robotics, batteries, sustainable mobility and plastronics, as well as the new facilities currently under way in the field of quantum computing, with the aim of advancing technological sovereignty and contributing to a more resilient and competitive industry.

In this regard, the President of the Parliament visited the space where Eurecat will install an advanced quantum computing and artificial intelligence infrastructure pioneering in Europe, within the framework of the Singulars Institucionals call, funded by the Department of Research and Universities and the European funds to transform Catalonia’s research infrastructures and generate real impact for companies.

This quantum computing laboratory will include a quantum emulator and a digital annealer and will join other singular technological infrastructures of Eurecat to promote innovation in the economic and business fabric in emerging fields, with the aim of facilitating the validation and scaling-up of technology to accelerate industrial adoption and transform knowledge into operational solutions.

The President of the Parliament highlighted the strategic role of this technology centre as a “key infrastructure for the economic and industrial development of Catalonia”, and for the transfer of knowledge to the productive fabric, “adding value in areas such as robotics or artificial intelligence, which are decisive in strengthening the country’s competitiveness”. The president also emphasised the importance of the centre “in advancing towards technological sovereignty and becoming a European benchmark in innovation”, based on its ability to generate solutions aligned with the social and industrial needs of Catalonia and Europe, and with an “ethical vision committed to freedoms and fundamental rights”.

Eurecat “provides the necessary resources to drive technological innovation, offering specialised knowledge, distinctive capabilities and access to advanced technological infrastructures, so that industry becomes increasingly resilient and productive and to generate new industrial fabric, in a global environment where technological sovereignty is essential in order to always stay one step ahead”, stressed Eurecat’s Chief Operating and Corporate Officer during the visit.

In the words of the President of Eurecat, Daniel Altimiras, “it is essential that more and more companies and organisations adopt innovation as a sustained strategy over time in order to overcome their challenges, enhance their competitiveness and open up new markets, as demonstrated by the more than 3,500 companies that have carried out R&D&I projects with Eurecat”.

Eurecat, pioneer in advanced robotics for industry and society

In the field of robotics, the President and the Chief Operating and Corporate Officer of Eurecat presented to the President of the Parliament several distinctive projects that exemplify how the technology centre works with the business fabric to implement the combination of robotics and artificial intelligence in real solutions for companies.

In industrial environments, Eurecat is also exploring high-capacity drones, up to 35kg, which enable new automation operations in logistics, as well as new approaches to maintenance and assembly, helping to automate industry and improve the safety and efficiency of operations.

In the industrial sector, Eurecat has also successfully tested the design of flexible and precise production systems, capables of adapting to a high variability of production orders thanks to the combination of vision systems and artificial intelligence. This technological integration has proved to be of particular interest, for example, in battery disassembly and the recovery of electronic waste and critical materials.

In the social sphere, Eurecat is developing various technologies, such as assistive robots that can help elderly people or with reduced mobility in their daily tasks.

Innovation for the substitution of critical materials in electric batteries

The President of the Parliament also visited Eurecat’s battery laboratory, which forms part of Battech, the joint electric battery research unit promoted by Eurecat and the Catalonia Institute for Energy Research (IREC), where, among other innovations, works on replacing critical materials with abundant ones, researches new chemistries to increase energy density, charging speed, lifespan and safety, as well as the reduction of the cost, weight and volume of batteries.

Eurecat is also innovating to develop batteries that are designed and manufactured to be suitable for a second life and for recycling, enabling all their materials to be recovered in an economically viable way and thus be able to manufacture new batteries, closing the cycle with the lowest impact possible.

Eurecat Cerdanyola also hosts a plastronics plant, which makes available to companies this emerging technology that combines electronics and plastic materials to produce high value-added products, equipped with advanced functionalities and the potential for large-scale manufacturing.

Plastronics represents a revolution for the automotive, aeronautics and consumer electronics sectors, as well as for medical and sports applications, as it enables the creation of new processes and products, through the combination of printed electronics and the hybridisation of electronic components with traditional plastic transformation processes such as injection. In this sense, Eurecat’s commitment to plastronics responds to companies’ growing need to optimise processes, new transformation and manufacturing technologies, and obtaining higher value-added products that incorporate new functions and more complex, customisable and intelligent systems.

Since 2015, Eurecat has invested €21 million in singular scientific and technological infrastructures across the Catalan territory. Some notable examples at its various headquarters include the Omics Sciences Centre in Reus, a mixt unit with Rovira i Virgili University, the plastronics pilot plant in Cerdanyola; and the Edifici Llavor in Amposta, this last one dedicated to test climate change adaptation and mitigation technologies. Eurecat plans to invest up to €24 million between 2025 and 2027 in new infrastructures.

Also present at the institutional visit were the Head of the President of the Parliament’s Cabinet, Xavier Reinaldos, Eurecat’s Corporate Director, Àurea Rodríguez, and Eurecat’s Director of Singular Projects and Laboratories, Agustí Chico.

Eurecat closed 2025 with revenues of €75 million, more than double those achieved in 2015, its first year of operation. With a multiplier impact of 9.37, this translates into a contribution of 81 million euros to Catalonia’s GDP through direct, indirect and induced, and 145.6 million euros in positive impact on the turnover of companies and institutions in Catalonia.