In line with the Open Power vision, the Group promotes an open innovation approach to address the challenges of the energy transition. The Open Innovation model makes it possible to connect all areas of the Company with startups, industrial partners, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), research centers, universities and entrepreneurs – drawing in part on crowdsourcing platforms – to face the challenges of the business, taking into account the drivers of the Group’s Strategic Plan.
The Company has numerous innovation partnership agreements that, in addition to the traditional fields of action linked to renewable energy and conventional generation, have promoted the development of new solutions for e-mobility, microgrids, energy efficiency and the industrial Internet of Things (IoT).
Enel’s innovation strategy leverages the online crowdsourcing platform openinnovability.com and a global network of 10 Innovation Hubs (3 of which are also Labs) and 22 Labs (3 of which are dedicated to startups), which consolidates the new model of collaboration with startups and SMEs. The latter offer innovative solutions and new business models and Enel makes its expertise, testing facilities and a global network of partners available to support its development and possible scale-up. The Hubs are located in the most relevant innovation ecosystems for the Group (Catania, Pisa, Milan, Silicon Valley, Boston, Rio de Janeiro, Madrid, Barcelona, Santiago de Chile, Tel Aviv). They manage relationships with all the players involved in innovation activities and constitute the main source of scouting for innovative startups and SMEs, responding to the innovation needs manifested by business lines. In September 2022 Enel inaugurated the new AI & Robotics Lab in Tel Aviv, specializing in the development of artificial intelligence and robotics for renewable energy and electricity grids.
Furthermore, in 2022, Enel was one of the first companies in the world to voluntarily adopt the ISO 56002 standard for innovation management. The ISO 56002 standard is part of the broader ISO 56000 series of standards and covers all aspects of innovation management: from the birth of an idea to its implementation on a global scale. It enables you to enhance the effectiveness of innovation and business opportunities, creating the conditions for a widespread culture of innovation that stimulates the creativity of employees and stakeholders and fosters the emergence of new value propositions in line with market developments.
In 2021, the integration of Open Innovation Culture and Agile Transformation was launched at the Group level with the aim of providing the business with comprehensive support, from the generation of the idea to the project implementation phase, using Innovation and Agile methodologies as key drivers to create competitive advantage and generate cost optimization over time.
2022 saw the continuation of the activities of the innovation communities, multidisciplinary working groups created to innovatively address the most relevant issues for the business and new technologies in order to create value for the Group. To the existing communities of energy storage, blockchain, drones, energy accumulation, metaverse, robotics, sensors and quantum computing, other innovation communities have been added, including wearables, additive manufacturing, data monetization, artificial intelligence and machine learning, materials and hydrogen. The communities continuously monitor potential technological improvements or share useful new business models, value-added services or use cases for types of technology that could be implemented in different areas of the Enel Group.
As part of innovation activities, 194 Proofs of Concept were launched in 2022 (168 in 2021) to test innovative solutions, while 60 innovative solutions (46 in 2021) are in the scale-up phase and €104.5 million have been invested (including personnel costs) in innovation.