In its first stage, it will focus on joint technological development between Arteche and IKERLAN, a benchmark technology centre in power electronics.
The new company will focus on the development and commercialization of power electronics solutions for grid, renewable energy and heavy industry applications.
This joint venture will be 50% owned by Arteche and MONDRAGON.
Arteche and MONDRAGON launch AMETS Power Electronics, a new company focused on the development of innovative solutions in power electronics. This strategic alliance combines Arteche's international experience, MONDRAGON's cooperative and industrial ecosystem and IKERLAN's technological capacity to respond to present and future challenges in the management and transformation of electrical energy.
AMETS is born with a joint structure (50% Arteche-50% Mondragon and IKERLAN) and aims to become a benchmark in more efficient, flexible and sustainable electrical systems. The company plans to start its industrial activity with the technological development of solutions based on power electronics technologies aimed at applications in electrical grids, renewable energies and heavy industries.
A shared and complementary vision
AMETS Power Electronics is based on a collaborative model that places market, technology and industrial manufacturing as pillars of a strategic triangle that seeks to maximize innovation and impact in the energy value chain.
“This is an alliance with shared values: commitment to the industry, long-term orientation and a firm commitment to people” said Alex Artetxe, CEO and president of Arteche, during the presentation ceremony in Bilbao. “AMETS is an opportunity to explore new technological frontiers and open paths towards a future in which we remain at the forefront of the energy sector, offering solutions that address the challenges of society”.
MONDRAGON's chairman, Pello Rodríguez, said that “we are starting this new project with great enthusiasm, as it is a collaboration between companies with extensive industrial experience to set up a new activity in a sector with a bright future”.
The new company, set up as a limited company, will have balanced governance, with four members on its board -two from Arteche and two from MONDRAGON and IKERLAN-. AMETS will be aligned with the principles of positive impact on the environment, generating synergies with the companies in the group and contributing to the technological and economic development of the territory.
Technological innovation for the energy future
The creation of AMETS responds to a long-term vision that is aligned with the strategic roadmap of both organisations. It will begin with a first phase of design and development of power electronics solutions that will be carried out in close collaboration between the technical teams of IKERLAN and Arteche, with a focus on technological excellence and sustainability to move towards manufacturing and commercialization.
Arteche and MONDRAGON's roadmap
Arteche's Strategic Plan ‘Energizing Futures Together’ 2024-2026 foresees revenues of between 520 and 540 million euros by the end of 2026, in accordance with the company's sustained growth expectations.
This roadmap includes an ambitious strategy of inorganic growth based on four key lines: reinforcing leadership and profitability in core businesses; accelerating positioning in Automation and Network Reliability; incorporating essential technologies for the future; and consolidating its presence in strategic markets such as the United States and Asia. The creation of AMETS Power Electronics fits naturally into this strategic focus, as it responds both to the commitment to the integration of essential technologies for the future, such as advanced power electronics, and to the strengthening of its position in automation, grid reliability and storage. This initiative will not only enable the promotion of innovative solutions aimed at electricity grids, but also opens up the possibility of exploring new opportunities in sectors where technological development can provide differential value. In this way, AMETS projects itself as a key player in the evolution of the energy value chain, keeping the door open to future lines of collaboration and growth.
Furthermore, the creation of this joint venture embodies the commitment to inorganic growth set out in the Strategic Plan. Thanks to a contribution of capital and technological resources, earmarked for joint development between Arteche, MONDRAGON and IKERLAN, capacities will be activated to complement the planned capex (€60m up to 2026) in investments in new products and innovation.
The operation is born with an industrial and technological focus that adds immediate value to Arteche's business, expanding its capacity to offer complete solutions in power electronics focused on grid stability, from advanced control to conversion and harmonic mitigation. This reinforces Arteche's technological proposition to its customers, while accelerating the construction of a platform capable of leading in the global market.
As for MONDRAGON, its strategic plan 2025-2028 sets out to ‘achieve positions of leadership, improving its levels of competitiveness, collaboration and adaptation to be a key agent of social transformation’. And in its journey towards the next four years it identifies four strategic axes: identity, business with a future, openness and social impact and inter-cooperation.
The creation of AMETS Power Electronics responds to two of these strategic axes: the promotion of new activities and businesses in sectors of the future; and the development of collaborations with third parties to activate new proposals that provide economic activity and sustainable jobs.
MONDRAGON will put all its technological (mainly through IKERLAN), industrial and knowledge-based capabilities at the service of this project to ensure that this joint initiative is successful and gives rise to new collaborations. It will also help MONDRAGON to position itself as an important player in the energy sector, a sector of the future.
About Arteche
Founded in 1946, Arteche operates in the electrical sector, from generation to distribution, specializing in the electrical equipment, components and solutions industry. Within this framework, Arteche is in the TOP 3 of the world leaders in the instrument transformer market, and number 1 in the auxiliary relays market, and maintains a regional leadership position in the rest of the products especially aimed at highly demanding and value-added markets, such as renewable generation and the railway sector.
Arteche's business is focused on enabling the transmission and distribution of electrical energy from any generation plant to the end user with efficiency, quality and reliability. This is why the company invests recurrently in R&D&I, with the intention of improving the quality and efficiency of its products, innovating in the development of new products and offering the customer a differential added value. Arteche is currently present in more than 175 countries with commercial distribution capacities; it has 10 production centers in Europe, America, Asia and Oceania, including 7 research centers; and it employs more than 2,800 people worldwide.
About MONDRAGON
The MONDRAGON Corporation is structured around four business areas: Finance, Industry, Distribution and Knowledge. It is a reality with a co-operative identity, which competes in the global market and seeks progress in common. An ecosystem that integrates its own university (Mondragon Unibertsitatea), an employment EPSV (LagunAro), a financial institution (Laboral Kutxa), a distribution business (Eroski) and several industrial co-operatives that operate in different sectors of activity. It employs more than 70,000 people and in 2024 had an aggregate turnover of 11,200 million euros.
MONDRAGON's commitment to innovation is very significant, employing more than 2,000 full-time R&D staff. Furthermore, the resources earmarked for R&D in 2024 exceeded 185 million euros and the total number of patent families in force is close to 400, a really significant amount in the Basque Country as a whole. It integrates 5 technology centers and 7 R&D units.
About IKERLAN
IKERLAN is a leading center in technology transfer and in providing competitive value to industry. It offers comprehensive solutions combining different technological domains in three main areas: digital technologies and artificial intelligence, embedded electronic systems and cybersecurity, and mechatronic and energy technologies. It currently has a team of 420 people and offices in Arrasate-Mondragón, Donostialdea and Bilbao. As a cooperative member of the MONDRAGON Corporation and the Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA), IKERLAN represents a sustainable, competitive business model in permanent transformation.
AMETS reinforces a shared commitment to innovation, industrial development and energy sustainability.