The Cartif technology center achieves record revenues of 15.2 million euros and has 212 researchers.

Cartif closed 2024 with record activity figures and the development of more than a hundred projects with companies. The technology center located in Boecillo (Valladolid) earned a record €15.2 million and closed the year with 212 researchers, a figure that has already risen to 234 so far this year, 42 of whom are PhDs.

"Our goal is clear: to turn technology into a driver of business competitiveness and social progress," said José R. Perán, CEO of CARTIF, during the presentation of the 2024 Annual Report of the leading technology center in Castile and León, at an event held this morning with the media in Valladolid.

The CARTIF Technology Center has reviewed its 30th anniversary, a key year marked by an exponential leap in collaborations with companies and the promotion of technological solutions with significant market impact. José R. Perán noted that "the center's research team works daily to consolidate a model that balances competitive public funding with private contracting, ensuring stability, applicability, and, above all, excellence."

For his part, Deputy Director General Sergio Sanz emphasized that "one of the key pillars of this progress has been the intensification of projects developed directly with companies," which by 2024 exceeded one hundred, with a contract volume of more than €3.8 million . "These collaborations allow for a real and agile transfer of knowledge, built on mutual trust," he noted.

The recent national blackout reminded us of the fragility of the electrical system. CARTIF has been working for years to strengthen it with intelligence, flexibility, and renewable energy, Sanz stated. For more than 20 years, its research team has been immersed in the research and development of sophisticated technologies that integrate both variables to ensure a more robust and resilient energy system.

One of the projects that has been able to demonstrate these capabilities is the AGISTIN project. This project will provide grid operators and energy system managers with advanced digital tools to anticipate imbalances, simulate extreme scenarios, and optimize grid operations in real time, even with high renewable penetration. These models integrate generation, demand, storage, climate prediction, and Artificial Intelligence .

"What does this mean in the event of a blackout? It means having systems capable of predicting load voltages before they become a failure ; it means being able to simulate what would happen if a critical substation failed or if there was a prolonged heat wave; and it means having automatic strategies to maintain stability, even if there are outages or imbalances in the grid," Sanz points out. "AGISTIN is not just a technological improvement: it's a guarantee of resilience. In the future, in the event of an event like last week's, the system will be able to react promptly, flexibly, and efficiently," he concludes.

Under the motto "30 years turning innovation into solutions for businesses," CARTIF celebrated three decades of history dedicated to applied research and connecting with the environment in 2024. During these months, the center's team carried out numerous activities that involved both the business ecosystem and the technology center's human team.

Among the anniversary's most notable activities was the Food Forum , which brought together nearly 100 attendees from fifty sectors, including companies, universities, and public agencies, at its headquarters in the Boecillo Technology Park. The event featured thirteen stands from the center's agri-food clients, such as Campofrío, Embutidos Ezequiel, Kombucha, Pistacyl, and Gullón, which showcased the projects they are working on with CARTIF.

The exhibition "CARTIF, 30 Years of Milestones," which was hosted at the Valladolid Science Museum from May to September, was also very well received. Closing out the year, the institutional event became the most emblematic event, bringing together nearly 300 attendees, including more than 80 guests from 60 different organizations in the business, academic, and scientific fields who joined the research team to pay tribute to this symbolic moment in the Center's history.

Various activities were also organized to strengthen internal cohesion and recognize the role of the CARTIF team. Among these, the Family Event was a highlight, bringing together families of the Center's staff for a fun and participatory event. Open days were also held, during which approximately 200 people were able to tour the facilities and learn firsthand about the daily work their families do.