Aragón declares Saint-Gobain Placo's investment in Quinto of regional interest

The Government of Aragon has declared the “OTO” project at the laminated gypsum board manufacturing plant in Quinto (Zaragoza), promoted by Saint-Gobain Placo Ibérica, SA, as an investment of regional interest. This means that its administrative processing will be preferential and urgent, and ordinary deadlines will be reduced by half. The agreement was adopted at the regional Government meeting on October 7, 2026, upon the proposal of the Minister of Economy, Competitiveness, and Employment, Eva Valle Maestro, and is published via Order ECE/1601/2026, of October 19, in the Official Gazette of Aragon number 213, of November 4, 2026 (csv BOA20261104017).

This status is regulated in Article 6 of Decree-Law 1/2008, of October 30, on urgent administrative measures to facilitate economic activity in Aragon, which reserves it for investments declared by the Aragonese Executive due to their special relevance for economic, social, and territorial development. The application was submitted on December 14, 2025, by the promoting company, which has its registered office in Madrid and is dedicated to the manufacture and marketing of gypsum and laminated gypsum boards.

A leading plant in laminated gypsum board

Saint-Gobain Placo Ibérica, SA is wholly owned by Saint-Gobain Cristalería, SL and has 700 employees and 8 industrial centers in Spain. In Aragon, it operates two factories: the high-value-added laminated gypsum products plant in Quinto and the gypsum-based technological products plant in Gelsa (Zaragoza).

The Quinto factory occupies an area of 200,000 m² and is the largest laminated gypsum board plant in Spain. It employs 200 people directly, including Placo’s customer service center, and more than 500 indirectly.

Fifty-five million and pioneering technology

The “OTO” project will replace the current gypsum calcination system with continuous wet-process dehydration, featuring staged mixing tanks and heat supply via steam generated in an electric boiler. Construction is expected to take place throughout 2026 and 2027, within the vicinity of the existing plant.

• Total planned investment: 55 million euros, increased from the 45.2 million in the initial report.
• New calcination building of 2,000 m² and a new high-voltage line of approximately 7 km.
• Photovoltaic plant of 3 MW with a battery energy storage system (BESS) and a biomass plant of 6 MW.
• Creation of 20 high-skilled direct jobs and more than 80 temporary jobs during construction.
• Reduction of 30% in energy consumption, 50% in natural gas use for drying, and 50% in water consumption.

Energy self-sufficiency and European aid

The General Directorate of Energy and Mines reported favorably on February 6, 2026, and issued a complementary report on September 29, 2026, following the developer’s letter dated April 1, 2026, which warned of the lack of available electrical power from e-distribución and Red Eléctrica and announced a self-sufficiency solution using renewables and storage.

That same report highlights that the project has obtained a European grant of 20.8 million euros under the Innovation Fund program, as it involves an innovative technology for the decarbonization of laminated gypsum board manufacturing not yet implemented in any other plant in the world.

The other two favorable reports come from the General Directorate of Industrial Promotion and Innovation (February 24, 2026) and the General Directorate of Economic Policy (September 30, 2026), which confirmed the developer’s solvency: 438.4 million euros in operating income in 2024 and 314.9 million in total assets.

Less unemployment and tractor effect in the Ribera Baja del Ebro

The Executive emphasizes the territorial impact. According to data from the Aragonese Institute of Statistics (IAEST), in December 2025 there were 86 unemployed people in Quinto and 306 in the Ribera Baja del Ebro region, where the manufacturing industry contributed 22.2% of the gross value added in 2022, compared to 18.7% for Aragon as a whole. In 2020, the company approved an investment of 45 million to expand the plant, completed in 2023, and in 2024 another close to 6 million for a board recycling plant, completed in 2025.

The declaration implies preferential and urgent promotion of all authorization, execution, and development procedures, with a 50% reduction in deadlines for regional procedures, except for the submission of applications and appeals, and with the specifications of articles 10 and 11 of Decree-Law 1/2008 regarding urban planning and the environment. In any case, it does not exempt the fulfillment of legal requirements to obtain authorizations nor does it condition the Administration in the application of regulations.

The agreement achieves relevance that goes beyond a single factory: it consolidates Quinto as a national reference for laminated gypsum, anchors a world-pioneering industrial technology in Aragon, and secures activity and skilled employment in a region with low population density. The construction schedule announced for 2026 and 2027 makes the administrative fast track a decisive factor for the investment and the associated European grant to be executed on time.

Source: Official Gazette of Aragon, no. 213, November 4, 2026, section III (Other Provisions and Agreements) (official reference: BOA20261104017).