Endesa and Enel call for proposals from startups worldwide to lead the energy transition

• ReShape is an initiative that has just been launched through the group's open innovation platform and it will initially be open until 30 September, although new challenges may be added.
• The first challenges cover all business lines, from power generation to the creation of new value-added products and services.  

Endesa and Enel have just launched ReShape, a new call for proposals from startups, SMEs and all actors in the world of open innovation to initially pursue 6 new challenges that help the group reimagine the business in the post-Covid period and maintain its leadership in the energy transition.

The global pandemic that has shaken the world has shown that the ability to anticipate change is crucial for companies. In that sense, the Enel Group has shown during this period that it is prepared, thanks to a process of continuous innovation and its capacity for resilience and adaptation to a scenario that no one could have foreseen. For Fabio Tentori, director of the Enel Innovation Hubs, "all the innovative solutions that have been implemented with startups have been very valuable to the group, they have helped us to be resilient and continue to focus on our customers."

In recent years, Enel has implemented a working method with a focus on digitisation, energy transition, automation, remote work processes and other technologies that are useful for success, even in extreme situations: there are currently 37,000 Enel employees, 7,000 of them in Spain, teleworking.

Thanks to Innovability (innovation at the service of sustainability), Enel has digitised its assets and launched several innovative technologies within the group, such as drones, cloud processes and automation. In fact, Enel was the first utility to have 100% of its data and applications in the cloud, allowing it to operate more quickly, remotely and securely, which is critical at this time.

Reshape: Innovability to build a brighter future

With ReShape the group wants to continue transforming innovation into future solutions and the first challenges launched in the call for proposals cover all business lines, from power generation to the creation of new value-added products and services, and from robotics to artificial intelligence, virtual reality, automation on construction sites for new renewable plants, understanding our customers by collecting and consolidating data that identifies their special needs, to rationalising the entire customer journey with the company in the digital age. The first challenges pursue the following objectives:

• Apply automation to the construction of renewable energy plants 
• Increase employee safety and ensure correct distance and traceability
• Ensure rapid health protection measures in field operations and in outdoor spaces
• Offer remote visits for industrial and residential customers
• Improve the profile of end consumers
• Promote the digital experience of customers

The challenges have been presented through the group startups website and the proposals will be collected on Enel's open innovation crowdsourcing platform, which will be open until 30 September initially, although new challenges may be included.

Collaboration at the heart of innovation

Enel's presence in the global innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem remains very strong. The group is convinced that people are the main vehicle through which solutions travel, and that is why it is determined to continue supporting startups and working to find innovative and disruptive solutions that change the world.

Enel has worked with nearly 300 startups to implement innovation in all its businesses worldwide, thanks to its international network of 10 Enel Innovation Hubs in the most innovative ecosystems, and its 21 laboratories. Furthermore, Enel is connected to a community of more than 400,000 active solvers through its crowdsourcing platform openinnovability.com.

The development of the relationship with European ecosystems and the search for startups in them, is carried out from the Enel Innovation Hub Europe which is in Madrid; to date, Enel has established collaborations with more than 160 European startups.