Paris, 12-14 November 2019
Following last year’s successful collaboration, Enel Foundation is once again Global Knowledge Partner of European Utility Week and POWERGEN Europe, in the context of a broader partnership with the event’s organizer Clarion Energy.
The 20th edition of the European Utility Week and POWERGEN Europe, which took place at the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles, November 12-14th, brought a major evolution to one of the most well-established series of energy related events.
The organizers unveiled a new global name for the long-running power and energy conference and exhibition Utility Week and the co-located POWERGEN events. Enlit is the unifying name for the events and after the European premiere, it will gradually be applied to Australia (August 2020), Asia (September 2020) before returning to Europe for the much-awaited event in Milan (October 2020).
This change intends to highlight the evolving role of these events as platforms to support the energy transitions taking place in different regions of the world. In the words of Paddy Young, Event Director of European Utility Week, “The boundaries of the sector are blurring, and this evolution is being shaped by established players, external disruptors, innovative start-ups and the increasingly engaged end-user. Enlit will bring all of these actors together to seize current opportunities, spotlight future ones, and inspire the next generation to join the journey.”
Carlo Papa, Director of Enel Foundation, said, “In this historical moment for our industry and our planet, getting stakeholders to unite behind accelerating the clean energy transition without leaving anyone behind is a global priority and Enlit perfectly represents this convergence space. After supporting last year’s event and publishing a joint paper with useful takeaways, we look forward to sharing our most recent research at Enlit in Paris and to continue providing our scientific support in this new phase.”
A look at the Paris event
The 20th edition of the Utility Week in Paris gathered some 18,000 international Power and Smart Energy professionals and 800 exhibiting companies, coming together to share knowledge and discuss European strategy to achieve a smooth transition towards a low carbon energy supply.
The event aimed to explore four key areas in the European energy landscape: the new energy mix, Commercial & Industrial Energy users, energy markets and digitalization. With the guidance of an expert Advisory Committee, of which Enel Foundation was a key part of, the Summit and Hub Session programmes offered key insights into the most important aspects of Europe's energy transition, ensuring industry practitioners are equipped to adapt to the fast-changing facets of the transitioning energy sector.
A series of senior managers from Enel Group gave their contributions to the event in Paris and shared insights on some of the areas in which the Group is leading the energy transition. Livio Gallo, Head of the Enel Group's global infrastructure and networks business line, spoke at the keynote opening session addressing the role of electricity distribution as enabler of energy transition and of Enel’s new innovation programs in Brazil, with the Urban Futurability project. Analogously, Robert Denda, Head of Network Technology and Innovability for the same Enel business line, discussed technological transformations and innovations in the sector, especially those related to the grid edge.
Luigi La Pegna, Head of Operations & Maintenance for Enel’s new Global Power Generation business line joined a session on Sector Coupling, while Eliano Russo and Marco Gazzino, respectively Head of E-Industries and Head of Innovation for Enel X, shared their experiences on the fast evolving area of energy services for industries and innovative marketing and circular economy approaches for C&I customers.
Carlo Papa, Director of Enel Foundation, also delivered a Keynote speech on the new energy mix presenting a research series focusing on the optimal technical and economical levels of integration of Variable Renewable Energy Sources in the grids.
Initiate!, a program supported by Enel Foundation aimed at connecting new generations to the challenges and opportunities of energy transition, offering the perfect platform for startups, students, young and established professionals to share ideas, also contributed to the event. Enel was a partner and attended the program presenting 5 start-ups with which it’s collaborating (weAR, Flyability, Solerzia, Karten Space, Smart-I). Fabio Tentori, Head of Enel Innovation Hubs, joined a panel session and explained the company’s approach to start-ups.