Naturgy Foundation has launched a new edition of the Efigy Technology Contest, corresponding to the 2025-2026 academic year. This is the VIII call, aimed at students in the 3rd and 4th year of Compulsory Secondary Education throughout Spain, which seeks to encourage young people to improve the planet through innovation and energy efficiency.
The objective of this recognition is to motivate and generate awareness and interest in energy from an early age, promoting technological and scientific vocations, reinforcing the research capacity of young people, awakening their curiosity and creativity, as well as promoting teamwork and communication skills.
Participating students must solve a challenge that contributes to improving the environmental health of the planet and linked to topics such as air quality in cities, energy efficiency, energy innovation for the Sustainable Development Goals, energy transition, new technologies, sustainable mobility or energy advice in vulnerable environments.
A long-range contest
The Efigy Technology Contest, which this year celebrates its eighth edition, is a consolidated initiative in the national educational agenda. The general director of the Naturgy Foundation, María Eugenia Coronado, emphasizes that “success lies in the efforts of the schoolchildren who, every year, present innovative technological projects, so necessary to continue increasing energy efficiency and guarantee a fair transition for all.”
Coronado recalls that the objective of this initiative is to create a learning environment that favors access to specialized knowledge and the promotion of STEAM vocations, “so that together we can guarantee a fair energy transition and advance the sustainability of the planet.”
During its seven editions, the Efigy Technology Contest has had the participation of more than 11,800 3rd and 4th year ESO students from 130 educational centers in seventeen autonomous communities. In total, more than 400 energy efficiency projects have been evaluated.
This contest is part of the Efigy Education Program, with which the Naturgy Foundation offers a wide training catalog in the field of climate change and new energy technologies, with more than one million people benefiting since 2018. This program has the recognition and collaboration of leading institutions in the field of education and research, such as the Ministry of Education, Vocational Training and Sports, the FECYT, the ITJ and the CSIC.
Commitment of the Naturgy group to training
Furthermore, over the last few weeks, the Naturgy Foundation has launched other training plans, such as the training project linked to the three wind farm repowering projects that the energy company is developing in Galicia, an initiative that has the support of the Institute for Energy Diversification and Saving (IDAE). This program seeks to generate new professional training opportunities in the territories where the projects are developed, reinforcing the commitment to local employability and sustainable development.
The training actions, with scholarships and at no cost to participants, are aimed at students, teachers, professionals who wish to update their knowledge, and also at unemployed people and people in vulnerable situations. The training focuses on two key areas for the future of the energy sector, which are the digitalization of electrical networks and the maintenance of wind farms, a booming sector that is looking for new professionals.
For their part, Naturgy and the University of Santiago de Compostela (USC) have signed a collaboration agreement for the granting of 18 scholarships for the Master’s Degree in Renewable Energy, Climate Change and Sustainable Development.
This agreement, linked to the three repowering projects, will allow financing the training of postgraduate course students who enroll in the master’s degree in the 2025/26 academic year and complete their academic itinerary in 2026/27. The scholarships aim to promote specialized training in renewable energies and support the preparation of professionals in a strategic field for the energy transition and sustainability. USC will be in charge of selecting the beneficiaries, guaranteeing equal opportunities and academic excellence.
Beyond the financing of the scholarships, the agreement contemplates the participation of Naturgy in training or educational activities linked to the master’s degree, as well as collaboration in events in which students can come into contact with the reality of the energy sector.
For María Landeira, Naturgy’s Renewable Development delegate, “This agreement reinforces our commitment to Galicia and to the training of future professionals who will lead the energy transition.”