How is ACCIONA using AM to support sustainability?

ACCIONA, founded back in 1931, is a Spanish conglomerate group dedicated to the development and management of infrastructure and renewable energy. The sectors with which ACCIONA works include energy and infrastructure, which is why, not long ago, they began to integrate additive manufacturing in their activities. 3D printing technologies are often considered a greener alternative to traditional manufacturing methods. But is it truly the case? To learn more about how ACCIONA is using additive manufacturing for sustainable applications, we interviewed Luis Clemente from the ACCIONA group.

3DN: Could you introduce present yourself and tell us about your relationship with 3D printing?

I am Luis Clemente, a Civil Engineer with 20 years of experience. I worked for more than 10 years in the innovation area at ACCIONA where I had my first contact with 3D printing technologies. Specifically, 7 years ago, in the Corporate Innovation Department, we identified additive manufacturing, at that time still emerging, as a disruptive technology. We acquired an FDM printer and began to inform ourselves, study and analyze the potential of the technology in order to identify its possible applications at ACCIONA and foresee possible effects on our activity.

Luis Clemente

3DN: Why did ACCIONA decide to invest in additive manufacturing?

The first step was taken when we defined the line of work we would follow, which was to adopt large-scale 3D printing technology with concrete in order to make structural elements. At that time there were very few initiatives at a global level, but we were able to identify the two main technologies available: extrusion (contour crafting) and powder bed (D-Shape), opting for the latter because of the advantages we saw in terms of freedom of form.