Mikel Jauregi, the Basque Government's Minister for Industry, Energy Transition and Sustainability, has presented the Zero Emissions Marine Boat Transformative Project at the Real Club Marítimo del Abra in Getxo. It is the sixth industry-led Transformative Project launched under the Euskadi Industry Plan 2030.
The new initiative will establish a new industrial sector for fully electric, zero-emission recreational boats in the Basque Country, positioning the region as a European benchmark in sustainable maritime mobility.
The project was unveiled at the Real Club Marítimo del Abra in Getxo before representatives of the companies, SMEs, technology centres and industry cluster participating in the initiative. Speakers included Mikel Jauregi, Basque Government Minister for Industry, Energy Transition and Sustainability; José Galídez, Founder of LASAI; Garikoitz Telleria, CEO of LASAI; Nuria Gisbert, Director General of CIC energiGUNE; and Joseba Mariezkurrena, Director of Entrepreneurship, Talent and Competitiveness at the Provincial Council of Bizkaia.
Mikel Jauregi highlighted that "the Basque Country is creating a new industrial sector for electric recreational boats that will be a European leader. This Transformative Project clearly demonstrates that decarbonisation creates opportunities to develop new industrial capabilities. We are bringing together the Basque Country's industrial and technological strengths to develop and manufacture a new generation of zero-emission recreational boats."
According to LASAI CEO Garikoitz Telleria, "we are creating an entirely new market segment: zero-emission recreational boats. We are tackling a challenge with no established benchmarks, which will result in highly efficient and sustainable vessels. Furthermore, the technologies developed will be scalable to other maritime mobility applications, including freight transport, fishing vessels, port services and passenger transport, generating a significant multiplier effect."
The Zero Emissions Marine Boat Transformative Project will involve an investment of €36 million, enabling the development of all the capabilities required to industrialise a new generation of high-performance electric boats between 2026 and 2028.
The project is expected to create 71 highly skilled direct jobs and around 120 indirect jobs, generating a total of 191 new positions. These roles will primarily be associated with engineering, advanced manufacturing, digital technologies, electronics, energy storage and industrial production.
The initiative will be led by LASAI, driving the creation of a new industrial value chain involving six Basque SMEs, with the collaboration of the Basque Maritime Forum cluster. It will also engage key organisations within the Basque Science, Technology and Innovation Network, led by Tecnalia and CIC energiGUNE.
This partnership between industry, research organisations and public institutions reinforces the public-private collaboration model underpinning the project. It will establish a new industrial value chain integrating expertise in energy, metallurgy, power electronics, advanced manufacturing, industrial software and naval architecture.
The project will run from 2026 to 2028 and will cover vessel design, the development of energy and digital systems, prototype manufacturing and sea trials. It will culminate in the commercial launch and internationalisation of a new generation of electric recreational boats designed and manufactured entirely in the Basque Country.
The Euskadi Industry Plan 2030 originally included 23 Transformative Projects led by both the public and private sectors. Two additional privately led initiatives have since been incorporated: Zero Emissions Marine Boat and Smart Hydrogels for Nanomedicine.
As a dynamic strategy, the Industry Plan is designed to incorporate new Transformative Projects as industrial priorities evolve.
Of the 25 Transformative Projects currently included in the plan, 15 have already been launched: nine led by the public sector and six by the private sector.
The public-sector projects include: Basque Electricity Grid Planning 2025–2030 (increasing network capacity by more than 40%); BasquESG; Renewable Energy Development; the Scale Up Fund; Euskadi SpaceLab (ESA BIC); the Euskadi Climate Change Adaptation Living Lab (Kaia); Euskorpus; the Administrative Process Improvement Programme (Regulatory Highway); and the Strategic Industrial Land and Infrastructure Reserve.
The six privately led projects are: New Aircraft Engine Architectures for Sustainable and Competitive Aviation in Euskadi; ROBOOST; Smart Hydrogels for Personalised Nanomedicine; the Renewable Fuels Hub; Grid4Industry; and Zero Emissions Marine Boat, presented today.
Together, these six Transformative Projects represent an initial investment of more than €678 million, of which €368 million will be allocated to research, development and technological innovation. They are expected to create more than 3,800 high-quality jobs over the coming years and stimulate activity across 159 companies—the majority of them SMEs—throughout the Basque industrial ecosystem, in collaboration with the region's technology centres.
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