Reducing energy consumption when heating internal spaces, the wining idea of the “Las ideas se mueven” (ideas on the move) competition

• Around one hundred students under the age of 26 that are registered in universities and professional training centres in Catalonia took part in the first edition of this competition, which was launched by Endesa and the University Enterprise Foundation (FUE) before the summer.
• The first prize went to Oriol Liarte from the Universidad de Lleida, who received a cash prize of 3,000 euros and a scholarship for the vocational preparation programme STEP, with academic training and paid work practice at Endesa.  Jaume Boldú and Christian Olmo received the second and third prizes respectively, with cash prizes of €1,500 and €1,000.
• The award ceremony was held today at Endesa’s headquarters in Barcelona straight after the speed dating event aimed at gaining further insight into the other top 10 ideas identified in the competition.

Reducing energy consumption used to heat internal spaces. This was the winning idea of the first edition of the “Las Ideas Se Mueven” (Ideas on the Move) competition, organised by Endesa together with the University Enterprise Foundation (FUE), which was launched before the summer and designed to get students from universities and professional training centres to come up with ideas related to electric power that are compatible with any of the company’s challenges or commitments. The winner was announced today during the final award ceremony that was held at Endesa’s headquarters in Barcelona.

Oriol Liarte from the Universidad de Lleida was the winner and he received 3,000 euros and a scholarship for the vocational preparation programme STEP, with academic training and paid work practice at Endesa. Oriol Liarte introduced the public to the Omni Surface, an area that almost entirely reduces thermal radiation emitted bodies by heating the walls that surround them. When the device is switched on, it returns thermal radiation lost by the body, thus improving thermal comfort at lower temperatures and therefore also reducing energy consumption.

The first edition of this competition was aimed at students up to 26 years of age registered in universities and professional training centres in Catalonia and over one hundred great ideas were received, although only 70 met all the requirements. The initiatives had to be related to innovation, energy efficiency, electrification of energy demand, the protection of the environment and the surroundings, customer service excellence or the quality of energy services.  Next year the initiative will be extended to Andalusia and Madrid.

The jury selected three finalist ideas from among those submitted, including the winning idea and the students had the opportunity to enhance their ideas during a debate with experts held on October 27th, 28th and 29th inside an electric vehicle called the Endesa Van.

Second and third prizes

Jaume Boldú from the Barcelona School of Nautical Studies and Christian Olmo, from the UPC, received the second and third prizes respectively, with cash prizes of €1,500 and €1,000. Jaume Boldú’s idea consisted of a system designed to save cold water while waiting for it to heat up and Christian Olmo’s idea consisted in creating an internal network through the city streets in order to enable the movement of people through cities.

Speed dating

Just before the award ceremony at Endesa’s headquarters, a speed dating event was held for the students with the other top 10 ideas with the aim of gaining further insight into their ideas and helping them with their next steps.  The candidates had 50 minutes split into 5-minutes chats with each of Endesa’s 10 experts from all different areas, such as communication, finances or human resources, in order to help them to develop their ideas. 

Endesa, an employer brand

The competition, "Ideas on the Move” forms part of a series of initiatives carried out by Endesa, aimed at attracting and retaining young talent. During 2013 and 2014, the company trained 774 students via their scholarship programme and signed 565 work-practice contracts, 20% of which went on to work for the company.