How is Enel responding to the disruption of the energy industry?
Traditional power generation and distribution has been the cornerstone of Enel’s success over the last 60 years. We operate a grid network of 2.1 million kilometers; it is the largest privately owned grid network in the world. We have 63,000 employees servicing some 300 million people in over 30 countries. But we have recognized that to be relevant in today’s interconnected world of prosumers, we have to open up. We need to respond to climate change, to changes in regulation, to new ways of generating and distributing energy. We need to digitize our business and enhance our customer focus. We have to make our power and our grids available to partners and to our customers to use as a platform. That is the foundation of the Open Power brand that we launched last year.
What are the main aims of Open Power?
Open Power is our strategic platform for growth. It is based on opening up all areas of our energy business to take advantage of opportunities for new revenue streams. It means opening energy access to more people—more than 1 billion people still do not have access to electricity. It means opening up to new technologies and new forms of energy management, leveraging the connectivity of smart devices. And it means opening up to new uses of energy and new partnerships, such as with Nissan for our Vehicle-to-Grid technology for electric vehicles. Those are the five main pillars of Open Power. Our vision for Open Power is nothing less than to solve some of the world’s biggest challenges. What is exciting is that as a global electricity company we are in a real position to deliver on that vision.
How is Enel modernizing its culture to prepare for the future?
We cannot bring Open Power to life unless we move from being a former monopolist to being a much faster-moving business. We are working to digitize our business and one of the areas we are focusing on is our people. We are changing our mindset and becoming leaner, more agile and more innovative. We are opening innovation hubs in San Francisco, Tel Aviv, Brazil and Singapore. We are bringing startup thinking into Enel.
“The future of urban mobility is electric. It is a massive opportunity for us.”
How does Enel’s partnership with Formula E support the Open Power vision?
Electric mobility is going to be a fundamental part of the future of the energy business. That is why we want to be part of the growth of Formula E. It is very exciting for us and it is generating huge levels of engagement with our customers. Formula E is a great opportunity to showcase what can be achieved by innovation and by a startup mindset. It tells the story of who Enel is, what we do, and where we are going. We are proud to be one of the enablers for the championship. The possibilities around electric mobility are about how big your imagination is. It’s new and it’s the future
